A Soldier's Sketchbook: The Illustrated First World War Diary of R.H. Rabjohn

Gr 7 Up—A quiet narrative based on the diary of a young Canadian soldier during the First World War. Eighteen years old at the time of his enlistment, Rabjohn was eventually sent to England and then to France. Since he was a trained artist, he was assigned the task of mapping the trenches, drawing dugouts, and sketching the graves of his fallen comrades. This position allowed him to depict the scenes around him, whereas other soldiers were not permitted to do so. The text is a combination of Rabjohn's selected diary entries and the author's explanatory comments arranged around the profusive illustrations of Rabjohn's detailed pencil drawings, at least one per page and quite often large in size. Diary dates are in full capital letters, with a similar lower-case font for the entries. The font for the author's comments resembles that of an old typewriter. Many of the entries are concerned with day-to-day life and activities, such as going on leave, while others are graphic descriptions of casualties and death. Rabjohn would eventually return to Canada in March of 1919.