What is a Veteran, Anyway?
By Robert C. Snyder, Ph.D
Illustrations by Ron Himler
Harcover: 32 pages
List Price: $17.95
ISBN 978-0-9885295-5-7
(Ages: Everyone)
Publication Date: September 26, 2016
About this book
Veterans Day is a wonderful holiday for citizens to recognize the brave men and women who keep us free! This illustrated book is designed for teachers, parents, and children of all ages to be able to witness and understand the sacrifices veterans make and the camaraderie they experience. It emphasizes, in a simple-to-read format, what veterans go through on a daily basis. The aim is to allow children to relate their own life experiences to the everyday sacrifices veterans make, whether deployed overseas or training in peacetime. Most importantly, it is based on Robert Snyder’s 15 years of service in the U.S. Army, including a one-year tour in Baghdad, Iraq during the first year of the war.
What people are saying
"Gr 3-5 – Snyder, an educator and a veteran of the Iraqi War, describes in general terms what life is like for a variety of veterans. The text and the soft illustrations, rendered in pencil and gouache, portray the jobs and living conditions of servicemen and servicewomen during their deployment. Food, types of shelter, exposure to the elements, time away from family, injury, and death are also mentioned. A list of all the wars in which the United States has been involved is included. The final page provides several suggestions for honoring veterans and active duty personnel. The endpapers are a collage of cropped portions of the main illustrations. VERDICT: Consider this illustrated title on veterans for collections that serve military communities or are in need of an introduction.
--Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS for The School Library Journal
“As a USAF veteran, mom of three elementary school aged children, and an elected Representative on the Alabama State Board of Education, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of our children appreciating the sacrifices that have been made for them by our nation’s military. What is a Veteran, Anyway uses words and illustrations that children will understand and remember.”
--Mary Scott Hunter, Representative, Alabama State Board of Education
“I have traveled to US military bases around the world to train soldiers from every branch of service. Dr. Snyder’s book encompasses the spirit, heart, and soul of veterans deployed around the globe. The real mastery comes from the way the experiences of veterans are portrayed in a way that children can understand and appreciate.”
--Tony Horton, creator of 22 Minute Hard Corps, P90X, and author of the books: Bring It, Crush It, and The Big Picture.
About the Author
Dr. Snyder is a former Army Reserve Officer, who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom between February 2003 and February 2004. In Iraq, Captain Snyder served as the operations officer for a Military Police unit in Baghdad, Iraq, providing convoy security and operating Iraqi jails and prisons. His interest in writing children’s books has developed from reading books to his own two children, along with ten years of teaching elementary students. Currently, he is in his 16th year serving as a pre-service teacher educator at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.
About the Illustrator
Born in Cleveland Ohio, Ronald Himler attended the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he majored in painting and illustration. After working for a number of years at professionally related jobs in the arts, Ron illustrated his first picture book in 1972. He has been writing and illustrating picture books ever since! He is one of a very few working artists in the world to illustrate more than 150 children’s books. In addition to children’s books, Ron has also painted hundreds of book covers for young adult novels, which are displayed in bookstores and libraries across the nation. Ron has earned many honors and awards over the course of his career, including the prestigious Society of Illustrators Silver medal for the cover of Red Cap. In creating his paintings, Ron uses a variety of artistic media, including watercolor, oils, gouache, and pencil. His gentle and sensitive depiction of the deeper meaning and sacrifice behind the everyday, mundane activities of veterans provides young children a unique and tender way to honor and connect with our military.