Cambridge musician turns wartime love stories into songbook

After a visit to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, a Cambridge musician wrote her song “Over The Ocean To Canada.”

Inspired by the stories of many young people who came to Canada to join their Canadian military sweethearts after the Second World War, the song has stayed with songwriter Allison Lupton ever since it was recorded in 2014.

More than a decade later, Lupton took the idea one step further — envisioning a picture book inspired by the song.

The idea became a reality when artist and musician Ian Bell agreed to create the illustrations. Bell’s images truly capture the essence of the times in the images he created of wartime life, including village dances, factory assembly lines, and meal preparation during the days of rationing.

The book features audio/vid