WWI Books and Games

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Left image: old patched-up book cover illustrated with a smiling rag doll wearing a blue dress and frilly apron with the text 'Raggedy Ann Stories'. Middle image: vintage book cover with a square pen and ink side profile portrait of an Edwardian-era woman with the text 'Anne of Green Gables'. Left image: modern book cover with an illustrated black bear cub hugging someone's boot with the text 'Finding Winnie'.

Did you know that kids read these books during WWI?

Many children’s books and novels that are still read today were common reads for children during the Great War. Some have even been turned into famous films!

Raggedy Ann Stories

by Johnny Gruelle
Old tattered book cover illustrating a smiling rag doll wearing a blue dress and white apron. Text: 'Raggedy Ann Stories'

Get it in the Museum Store

Pollyanna

by Eleanor H. Porter
Vintage book cover embossed with text: 'POLLYANNA / ELEANOR H. PORTER'

The Secret Garden

by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Book cover with an illustration of a tall garden hedge. A girl in a red coat is bent over reaching toward a barely visible doorknob in the hedge. Text: 'The Secret Garden'

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

by L. Frank Baum
Old book cover in green and red. Illustrated with a cartoon lion looking around with scared eyes. Text: 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz / by L. Frank Baum / Pictures by W. W. Denslow'

Anne of Green Gables

by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Old book cover with a pen and ink side profile of a young woman wearing an Edwardian hairstyle. Text: 'Anne of Green Gables / by L. M. Montgomery'

The Magic Pudding

by Norman Lindsey
Book cover illustrated with a white-bearded man waving his wide-brimmed hat surrounded by a fantastical kangaroo, wallaby, penguin and koala dressed in human clothes. The koala is holding an upside-down bowl of pudding. The pudding has a face. Text: 'The Magic Pudding'

Little Gardens for Boys and Girls

by Myrta Margaret Higgins
Book cover in black, green and red. Illustration is of a child wearing a sailor suit pouring water from a watering can onto a circular flower bed. A white picket fense covered in flowering vines behind the child. Text: 'Little Gardens for Boys and Girls / Myrta Margaret Higgins'

Get it in the Museum Store

How Girls Can Help Their Country: Handbook for Girl Scouts

by W. J. Hoxie
Blue cover of a handbook, with an outline illustration of a girl in a collared shirt and neckerchief, ankle-length skirt, boots, wide-brimmed hat, carrying a walking stick. Text: 'How Girls can Help their Country / Handbook for Girl Scouts'

Get it in the Museum Store

Did you know that kids played these games during WWI, too?

Dominoes

The game has been around since the 12th century in China but might date back further to even the ancient Egyptians! During WWI, playing with dominoes was a common pastime.

Watercolor painting of two WWI soldiers, one dressed in blue uniform and the other dressed in green uniform, seated casually next to a ship bulkhead, playing dominos.
Object ID: 2014.145.58 →

Get your own domino set in the Museum Store

Cribbage

Created by an English poet in the early 17th century and has continued to be a popular game in the English-speaking world ever since. The game was played by people at home and deployed servicemembers!

Modern photograph of a long wooden board drilled with long rows of holes up the sides and center. Blue and red pegs are in some of the holes. The Museum and Memorial logo is printed on one end.

Get your own cribbage board in the Museum Store

"Monopoly"

Based off a game published in 1906 called "The Landlord’s Game." Lizzie Magie, the original designer, wanted the game to help educate players about realty and taxation.

Old game board in bright colors. The outer ring of rectangles are marked with street names and other destinations. The inner ring of rectangles are labeled with industry names and spaces for cards. The inner rectangles are labeled 'Public Treasury' and 'Miscellaneous'

Get "Monopoly: Kansas City Edition" in the Museum Store

Chess and checkers

Both games have a very long history and have been played across the globe in various forms since their creations. Chess has its roots in a game from India called chaturanga and has been around since before the 600s C.E. Checkers as we know it has been around since the 12th century, but evidence of a game potentially similar to checkers has been found that dates back to 3000 B.C.E.

Two German soldiers play chess while two others look on. Coats are hung up on hooks behind them. All four have full, pointy mustaches.
Object ID: 2009.99.921 →
Modern photograph of a worn-down black and red checkerboard that folds in the middle.
Object ID: 2010.118.0 →
Modern photograph of a rectangular piece of thick cardboard coated in black paint, perforated with many circles. Some of the circles have been snapped out and sit to the side.
Modern photograph of a rectangular piece of thick cardboard coated in red paint, perforated with many circles. Some of the circles have been snapped out and sit to the side.

Are you looking for some great books about WWI to read with kids?

Find a wide variety of children’s books available at the Museum and Memorial store! Here are a few staff favorites:

Finding Winnie:

The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear

by Lindsay Mattick
Book cover illustrating a black bear cub hugging a soldier's boot. Text: 'Finding Winnie'

Get it in the Museum Store

Soldier for Equality

by Duncan Tonatiuh
Book cover illustrating a brown-skinned WWI soldier and two brown-skinned children in a style similar to Aztec carvings. The background is split between a red sky filled with explosions and a mushroom cloud, and a blue sky over a nice clapboard house. Text: 'Soldier for Equality'

Get it in the Museum Store

Cher Ami:

Based on the World War I Legend of the Fearless Pigeon

by Mélisande Potter
Book cover illustrating a colorful pigeon standing on newspapers, wearing a war medal. Text: 'Cher Ami'

Get it in the Museum Store

Grace Banker and Her Hello Girls Answer the Call

by Claudia Friddell
Book cover illustrating a WWI-era woman in blue uniform wearing headphones speaking into a telephone receiver, flanked by a row of similarly dressed women standing at attention. Text: 'Grace Banker and her Hello Girls Answer the Call'

Get it in the Museum Store

Open Feb. 29, 2024

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