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# The French Are Good at Talking About the Past, and It Occurs to No One That Children Should Not Be Told About the First and Second World Wars
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/u-frantsuzov-khorosho-poluchaetsia-govorit-o-proshlom-i-nikomu-ne-prikhodit-v-golovu-chto-detiam-ne-sleduet-rasskazyvat-o-pervoi-i-vtoroi-mirovykh-voinakh/
- Published: 2022-04-28T07:05:52.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:38:55.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Education

The French are good at talking about the past, and it occurs to no one that children should not be told about the First and Second World Wars. Here, for example, are two volumes from the series "Mes petits documents" \["My Little Documents"\], devoted to the war. The books, incidentally, are intended for ages 3 to 6\. Difficult subjects are not skirted here; an attempt is made to express them in the right words. I understand that France is a special country, and that the rest are a very long way behind it in many matters of enlightenment; only recently, on France 2, a historical film about the extermination of the Jews was shown between two cartoons. But these books introduce the youngest children to the general version of history plainly and accessibly, telling of the facts and the main milestones of the conflict fully and with fair accuracy. The past, at times heavy and tragic, appears to children as an ordinary, many-sided and inalienable part of reality. And yes, on the cover of the book about the First World War there are smiling soldiers in blue uniforms, who seem to think that the war will be over in a few weeks

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_6453@28-04-2022_10-05-52.jpg)