The House of Sixty Fathers was not published until fifteen years after it was written because it was considered too realistic for children. But wars are real and children in war zones are not sheltered from them. DeJong does not spare the reader from unpleasant facts, nor does he focus on them unduly. He shows little children who are so hungry that they eat grass and even mud, and Tien Pao is aware that his pig could serve as food for these people: "If those children down the hill saw the little pig, they would fall on him and tear him to pieces.

They'd drink his warm blood."

DeJong handles the few scenes of actual battle in a similar way, focusing on Tien Pao's reaction to what he sees: "His skin went tight with horror, but he kept looking, he couldn't tear his eyes away."

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