The Silver Sword

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The Serrailliers, in their work at New Windmill, revealed their understanding of the liminality of the territory between adult and child. The New Windmill Series was created in 1949 and the Serrailliers remained the list’s editors and driving force for over thirty years, throughout a period of great sociological and political change. Ruth has perhaps the most interesting psychological response to being back with her family out of harm’s way. Ruth befriended Ivan, a Russian sentry, who had been assigned to liaise with the civilian population.

He also crossed paths with a British Army officer named Mark, who wrote a letter to his wife about the chimpanzee and its antics. It suggests that, although the appeal of adventure stories to children is unquestionable, the more considered, nuanced approach of The Silver Sword struck a chord with many young readers. Jan's record was sent to the authorities, but his parents were never traced and the Balickis granted his request to adopt him. In the same letter, Beal sets out the broad aims of the New Windmill series: “to provide good contemporary reading for the 11–16 age group”.Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially The Silver Sword (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971. This impetus reflects the Serrailliers’ recognition of the need to provide teenage audiences with books with timely, contemporary themes which would be of immediate appeal. Joseph walks for a month until he reaches Warsaw, but finds his family gone and his home burned down. The Swiss boat set to take them over the water is not due for hours, and the children decide to take a walk. Someone informs the Nazis that Joseph Balicki, a schoolteacher, has turned Adolf Hitler's picture to the wall; for this infraction, he is arrested and sent to Zakyna, a brutal work camp in the mountains of Southern Poland.

In these beginning chapters, readers meet Joseph Balicki, the patriarch whose verve and courage were clearly passed down to his children.In an earlier passage, Ruth’s perceived age is foregrounded when she encounters a detachment of the Russian soldiers who are occupying Warsaw"'Don’t stand there staring at me, little girl,' said the burly sentry who was on duty. Over sixty years on, such attitudes have changed, and the book reveals itself as an early prototype of literature for children which unflinchingly discusses the collateral damage inflicted on civilian populations, particularly children, by war and conflict.

He then wonders if his enemies will be up at the top as well, and positions himself to face the dark mountain. As for Ruth, who had taken on more responsibilities than a woman her age should have, she clung to her parents for a time and did not want to go out into the wider world.

He introduced himself as Jan, and in his possession he had a wooden box, the contents of which he kept secret. With so many facets to the role, it would have been understandable had the Serrailliers bowed to pressure and been less exacting about some of their choices for the list. Joseph’s conditions are actually much more bearable than many experienced during the war, but they are nevertheless awful. These editions were, importantly, designed to look like novels, rather than school reading books – there were no notes or comprehension questions at the end. As well as retellings of ancient myths and folktales, including Beowolf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, he also wrote two classic “adventure” stories, They Raced for Treasure (1946) and a sequel, Flight to Adventure (1947).

That evening they meet again, and the boy guides him to the back path so Nazi patrols will not see them. He tells him his plan to jump a train to Switzerland; the boy matter-of-factly says that Joseph will be caught and shot, or else will freeze on the tracks. In an Afterword to the 2003 edition Jane Serraillier Grossfeld, the author's daughter, identifies a Picture Post article about the Pestalozzi children's village as a source. After the war she seems to be trying to recapture her lost childhood by regressing emotionally and following her mother everywhere for fear of losing her again.Their view was that the timing of this pro-Russian sentiment would not be received well in a country deep in the throes of the Cold War. The Wolffs are a kind couple who shelter the children en route to Switzerland and help them escape from the Burgomaster, who is required to send them back to Poland. The Swiss authorities could take no more refugees unless there were relative in the country willing to be responsible for them. When selecting titles, the Serrailliers applied judgements about the age, gender, and interests of their potential readers.