Snow Treasure

There was a time when I was the sole source of knowledge for recommending books to my children and grandchildren. The tables aren’t quite turning, but they are rotating as the next generations are as likely to recommend a book to me as I am to them.

Rather than a modern offering, my granddaughter recently insisted that I read Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan, published in 1942 before either said granddaughter or I were born. How I missed this book twice—once when I was a child and then when my own children were growing up—is a mystery but approaching it as an adult brought its own perspective.

Telling a fictionalized account of a true story, Snow Treasure relates how children in a small Norwegian village helped smuggle gold bullion out of Norway, keeping it out of the hands of the invading Nazis. It’s a rollicking adventure for kids to read, elevating the virtues of courage, patriotism, and action.

Reading it as an adult afforded me a different perspective. Without giving away the plot, one of the leaders of the Resistance realized that Norwegian children on sleds would attract little more attention than a butterfly flitting around a garden. Both are ordinary and expected sights. He organized a cadre of pre-teen youth to transport heavy bullion bricks to a hiding place from where they would be transferred to a ship—one that eventually made its way to the United States.

When this book was published during World War II, it served as motivation and inspiration to those living in countries that had already been captured or were under attack by the Nazis, and to those whose countries had yet to join the fight. It captured the imagination and stoked the courage of young children around the world.

Reading it now, as a mother and grandmother, I didn’t identify as much with the children as with their parents. To put it mildly, the Germans did not treat opponents kindly. Not only were the children in danger, but their actions imperiled their families, including younger children and babies. Yet, the parents allowed and encouraged their children to participate in the exploit.

I read Snow Treasure at a time when patriotism is an alien concept to many teenagers and college students. Recognizing that anything other than “me, today” matters is a growing challenge. A mature understanding of good vs. evil, something the children in the book intuit, is lacking today.

The stories we tell reveal a great deal about who we are and what values we hold dear. To the best of our knowledge, George Washington never cut down a cherry tree, valiantly admitting to his father that he did so. However, the made-up account of this story by Pastor Weems has lived on for hundreds of years, attaching the trait of honesty to a person who was not only admired, but venerated. This reminds us that parents and teachers believed that transmitting the value of honesty was one of their highest callings. Could a book with morals like those depicted in Snow Treasure receive the Young Reader’s Choice Award today? Snow Treasure did just that in 1945.

How do we raise children who become young adults with values, principles, and convictions that will guide them through their lives? Sharing captivating literature that models the traits we want them to emulate is a great way to start.

P.S. I have followed the pattern on my Substack blog of posting marriage and child-related Musings and Practical Parenting essays from past years – often from more than a decade ago. This time, I posted this blog on Substack first, before it is appearing here. I am simply bogged down with family events and holiday preparations and needed to cut myself some slack. This is not a new normal.

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