This May we commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, when German forces' unconditionally surrendered heralding the start of the end of the Second World War. The date will be remembered with a series of ceremonies and celebrations in the UK and across the world, and to help young readers understand more about this important moment in history we have gathered together a selection of recommended children's books.

The events of WWII have inspired so much fiction and non-fiction for children, exploring the reality of war and helping young readers understand the key events and the impact on the lives of both those serving in the forces and civilians at home.

Award-winning Phil Earle uses his gift for writing about animals, to tell the experience of children evacuated during the war. In Until the Road Ends a dog, a cat and a pigeon tell a moving but adventurous story about the impact of the London Blitz on a family, and the tragedy that befalls them. Beau the stray dog had only recently been adopted by the Alford family when the news that children, including his new owner Peggy, would be evacuated from London. Peggy is sent to safety to live on the coast but has to leave her beloved Beau behind. When disaster strikes, and Peggy's parents are killed in a bombing raid in The Blitz the brave dog, and his fellow animal companions, head off to find Peggy in an emotional reunion. In further novels, a true story about a young boy evacuated to live in a run-down zoo is the inspiration behind When the Sky Falls, and in While the Storm Rages Noah battles to keep the promise he made as he said goodbye to his father marching off to fight in the war.

Safiyyah's War by Hiba Noor Khan, which recently won the Children's & YA Winner Jhalak Prize, is a richly imagined and vividly drawn story of a young girl whose life is changed when she gets caught up in the French Resistance in Paris in World War Two. The German occupation of Paris is also explored in Sufiya Ahmed’s thrilling World War II adventure Rosie Raja: Churchill's Spy, when readers are made fully aware of the terrible danger faced by spies and the resistance in France.

A recent Guest Editor for LoveReading4Kids, Tom Palmer has written a series of novels about World War Two. The most recent Angel of Grasmere centres on a small village in the Lake District fearing Nazi invasion, and highlights the long-lasting pain and mental anguish experienced by young soldiers after the Dunkirk retreat. You can read more from Tom on this, and why he feels it is essential that young readers understand the truth about war, in our interview here.

True events are behind Hide and Seek a Bletchley Park Mystery, a thrilling wartime spy story based on a real historical operation as priceless artwork was transported from London to Wales to prevent it from falling into Nazi hands. The book explores the plight of Jewish refugees and the impact of war upon a remote Welsh community. The author Rhian Tracey told us more about the book and the historical research behind the story, interviewed here by one of our young reading ambassadors Millie.

Read on for a selection of books about World War Two, fiction and non-fiction, new titles and old ones, suitable for 9+ readers.

You can find further reading recommendations in Twenty Powerful Reads to Remember the Holocaust and Armistice Day

And there are useful resources and information at:

The Imperial War Museum - iwm.org.uk

VEHAPPY - a creative tribute to celebrate the VE Day anniversary - ve80.com

The British Legion - britishlegion.org.uk