Introducing THE WAR LANTERN, historical fiction for middle grade readers ...

 

The War Lantern is coming October 2026 from my publisher, DCB Young Readers. Consider this amazing cover revealed!

Here's more about the book: 

"On February 27, 1941, bombs fall, families vanish, and the war lantern burns …

In England, fifteen-year-old schoolboy Marcus isn’t supposed to tell anyone about his work at Parnall’s Aircraft Factory, not even his mother, for fear of Hitler’s spies. 

In Germany, fourteen-year-old Gisele’s baby brother is about to be taken away by Nazi officials, who deem him “life not worthy of life.” 

Overhead, Tail End Charlie, an underage Royal Air Force rear gunner, flies for a German steel factory behind a squadron of bombers.

Each lead seemingly separate lives, struggling to survive amid World War II, until the roar of bombs — and the silence in the aftermath — connects them all.

Inspired by her family history, Governor General’s Literary Award–winning author Philippa Dowding delivers a carefully researched and powerfully moving wartime story for young readers about family, connections, and resilience."

The author's father,
England, 1941

PRE-ORDER! I'm delighted to also announce that Indigo, the national bookseller, has just selected The War Lantern as a Most Anticipated Book for Fall 2026 in the children's category! (You can pre-order your copy now, and pre-orders =  book 💕!)

I'm just delighted to have this book ready for the world; it's been a 7-year project but really a lifetime in the making. My thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous Research and Creation grant, as well the Ontario Arts Council for their support. Most of all, thanks to my wonderful publisher for making it happen and to my father for sharing his wartime survival story. 

In the coming months, I'll be posting about the journey of writing historical fiction for children, some of the most challenging writing I've ever done. I'm grateful for all the help I've had along the way.

Work in Progress Update and tour of a Lancaster Bomber

On November 25, 2023, I visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Port Hope, Ontario. As part of my Work In Progress (WIP), I went to research the WWII Lancaster Bomber there, and was given an incredible personal tour of the plane by the flight crew. Thank you to them for their time and expertise. It's an amazing museum near Hamilton, Ontario, largely run by volunteers. Go visit and support them. Lest we forget.

The research was for my middle-grade book about WWII, and my father's experience as a boy working at a Lancaster bomber aircraft factory in 1941. The Canada Council kindly gave me a Research and Creation grant for this book, and a Letter of Introduction about my research. I have such gratitude for this remarkable opportunity. The experts at the Warplane Heritage Museum were delighted to show me around, and I spent a long time talking with them about war, the aircraft, and the aircrew who flew them. It was a difficult day, to be honest. 

IMAGE: Bomber Command Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London UK

The first Lancaster heavy bombers rolled off the British assembly lines in September, 1941. Over 50,000 RAF air crew died in the Lancaster bombers between 1941-1945, mostly over Europe, and the average age for air crew was 22 years. Younger than my son is now. 

The British bombed at night. 

As I sat in the cramped cabin of the Lancaster, I suddenly understood how dangerous, terrifying, and claustrophobic the night bomber's job was. I had nothing but sorrow for the bombed civilians, and the young men whose job it was to drop bombs from 20,000 feet onto European factories, bridges, and unseen enemies below. It was the first time bombs had been used to such a scale in war, and it was controversial. Experts are still undecided if the RAF bombing raids were successful in bringing a faster end to the war with Nazi Germany. 

UPDATE: THE WAR LANTERN, my middle-grade book is now finished, has a publisher and a PUBLICATION DATE of October, 2026. I tried to make the story focus on the sorrow of war while still allowing the characters to be children (17, 15, and 14 years old), who like dancing, music, and birthday cake. Through the connection between an English boy and a German girl on either side of the English Channel, and a young RAF rear gunner, my characters are still just teenagers, and they're more alike than they are different.

IMAGE: The Lancaster Bomber Rear Gunner Turret. Tiny, cramped, freezing, and deadly, the rear gunner in a Lancaster bomber had a low chance of survival on each bombing raid (as low as 50/50). Sitting in a bubble at the tail end of the huge aircraft, they were easily shot by Luftwaffe fighter planes, and were often killed.

It's been 81 years since the send of WWII, but sadly this story is more relevant than ever. I'll keep readers updated on the cover, the title, origin story and more once the manuscript goes back to the publisher. This has been the most difficult write of my life,

and I have to say that it's a relief to be finished the job of writing this book. It's hard to be constantly engrossed for 3+ years in war, war, war. Especially in the world as it is right now, endlessly at war it seems. Also, the layering of research, the horror of war, creating a workable narrative using family history, and one for younger readers (ages 10+), has tested all my skill to the max. SO MUCH respect for historical fiction writers, for any age of reader!

My newest book is out now, THE LOVE SONG OF MR. BYRD, and it couldn't be more different from my war story. Check it out: a short, classically gentle story about love and friendship one summer, for ages 6-9, or a wonderful all-ages read-aloud.

For more posts about my WIP and research on the Lancaster Bomber.

 

The moment of truth for a new manuscript ...

Author with her manuscript. 

"The main challenge of researching and writing this book was learning to cope with the daily, relentless exposure to the horror of war ... " 

- P Dowding, Final Grant Report Excerpt, May, 2024

Yesterday, I printed out the manuscript for my next book for the first time. It's a WWII story for middle-grade readers.

This is a big step and part of the process for me, but it's scary. 

My writing process is always to take a story as FAR as I can on screen, then when I've got a real first draft with a beginning, middle, and end, I print it out. It's also a tipping point when I feel like I JUST can't look at this book on the screen anymore, because I can no longer see it, connect to it, love it.

It's a moment of truth to hold a printed manuscript for the first time.

So many questions...

Does this neural capture of symbols work? Do the symbols I assembled on the page in this particular order add up to something that is moving, interesting, reflective of my first impulse to assemble them? Will this particular assembling mean something to me, to others, and is it an assemblage that I can be invested in for all time?

Is this symbol assembly (all 230,866 of them) ANY GOOD?

This manuscript is a war story for middle-grade readers set in WWII, and based on my father's experience as a 15-year-old on a particular day in 1941. There's a new genre of auto-fiction for me here, plus a deeply personal family story. The story also explores a fictional German's experience, which is frankly terrifying. I learned a lot more than I expected about Nazi Germany and how it manipulated children. 

Author at the Gloucestershire Archives,
Gloucester UK, September 2023

A massive amount of research has gone into this manuscript, including a trip to England last fall to visit various archives and bomb sites. 

Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts for their generous Research and Creation grant which allowed me to write this book. I'm planning upcoming posts about the experience of writing a Canada Council for the Arts grant proposal: what to do if you get the grant (take it!); doing the research; writing the final report. For me, it's been a truly fascinating and rewarding 18-month cycle from grant proposal to the photo above, me holding the printed manuscript for the first time. 

Per Ardua Ad Astra, Bomber Memorial, UK, 2023

Obviously, there's still much to do. Massage story, fact-check every historical item with my notes. Here's a tip: do not trust your memory of the researched facts to be accurate. It almost never is, which is astonishing. I have two university degrees (one is an MA), I've researched dozens of papers, but this is completely different. Further steps also include creating a "backmatter" section with links and addenda. I need to get the manuscript to my editor soon-ish, for his first read. Time presses on!

I'll leave you with my final sentences for the CCA report. The question was, "explain your main achievements and challenges in writing this book." The achievements were easy, the challenges not. 

A partial excerpt of my answer to the last part: 

"The main challenge of researching and writing this book was learning to cope with the daily, relentless exposure to the horror of war. What seemed like a story worth telling, became a constant battle to not look away. I had to learn to limit my exposure, to find ways to mitigate what I was discovering ... "

That's the truth of it, friends. Writing historical war fiction for kids is a constant battle to not look away. But it seems like a more important challenge than ever. Let us not look away from war, let's look at war together and remind the next generation, as gently as we can, that they can choose alternatives. I truly hope that this is what the manuscript I hold in my hands suggests, that was my intention. Stay tuned!

I have another book about war for kids, OCULUM ECHO (2022). It's a dystopian cli-fi, with war and pandemic, the sequel to OCULUM (2018), which was nominated for several reader's choice awards. Read a 5-star review here.

All blog posts about this new book and the Research and Creation Grant.

FYI, I haven't settled on a final title for the book yet! Stay tuned on that too.

A Writer's Retreat on Toronto Island

Author and daughter, Toronto Island, May 2024

Writer's Retreat on Toronto Island! 

Just a little time out on Toronto Island this month, finishing a middle-grade novel that I started here LAST June, 2023! It's a beautiful spot, and I have now finished the book, which is set in WWII and is inspired by the day my father was bombed at work, age 15. 

STAY TUNED! Book news to come.

And here's a happy photo of my daughter visiting me in my bucolic paradise today. This summer, for about 6 weeks and for the only time in our lives, I will be exactly twice her age. That went fast!

"Remember your summertimes, sweethearts!" Stuart Little