Archive | February 26, 2014

Meet…The ANZACs

Meet...The ANZACs

Meet…The ANZACs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet…The ANZACs
Claire Saxby
Max Berry
Random House, 2014
hbk RRP $A24.99 9780857981943
ebk 9780857981943

Most of our students know the story of what happened at what is now Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915 and the days that followed.  But how did the Australian and New Zealand troops get there?  Surely they didn’t just sign up, get on a ship and arrive in the Dardanelles.  In this new book, Claire Saxby explains what happened between the outbreak of war and that fateful day. In simple, straightforward text accompanied by appealing, muted illustrations which evoke the moods of the time, the reader learns of the growing fervour of patriotism as men rush to sign on for what was seen to be a great adventure, a way to see the world, or simply rescue a family from poverty. But instead of leaving immediately, “training camps for soldiers popped up like mushrooms after rain” and eagerness turned to impatience as time went on and the feeling that the war would be over before they got there grew.  And impatience turned to frustration as instead of going directly to the front line, they went to Egypt for yet more training and waiting. Until the wait was finally over and they embarked for an unknown destination … but “war was like nothing they could have imagined.”  Frustration becomes fear, and on that note, Saxby leaves the story to be told in other books and formats.

This is the 5th book in this series and it’s my favourite, probably because it reminds us of where the NZ in ANZAC comes from.  It tells the story not often told before and shows how the camaraderie between the two nations that continues today began. Rather than a narrow narration of the facts, it provides an insight into these men with a clever juxtaposition of facts and then speech so there is a sense that these are real people, not faceless, anonymous participants.

With the centenary of ANZAC Day just over a year away, it is an ideal starting point for beginning to learn about this key element in our history and the inclusion of a timeline of the war itself puts the events in context.  A must-have for your collection about this topic.

The Giggle Gum Tree

The Giggle Gum Tree

The Giggle Gum Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Giggle Gum Tree
Juliet Williams
Elizabeth Botté
IpKidz, 2009
hbk., RRP $A26.00
9781921479182

Lily and Amanda live in a very tall house made of purple bricks – it is so tall that it sways in the wind!  Each day, they walk to school through the park and the path passes beneath a tree with beautiful draping branches that makes them giggle and puts them in a good mood for the day.  They call it the Giggle Gum Tree.  But not everyone likes the Giggle Gum Tree – Mrs Pritchet gets tangled in the branches and Mr Glumper trips over the roots that have broken the path. So they complain to the Tree Police and the girls are dismayed to discover a sign which says that the tree is to be chopped down in five days.  They are no longer giggling.  Quite by accident, they discover a plan that might save the tree and also the problem of their too-tall house – but will they be able to persuade the grown-ups to accept it?

Although the font is quite small, Miss 7 enjoyed reading this one and although she figured out what the girls’ solution might be, how they achieved it brought a smile to her face.

The colourful illustrations are inspired by those in children’s books of the 1950s and Miss 7 commented on the way the expressions of both people and creatures had been so well captured. 

This is a story that really lends itself to a problem-solving exercise if you stop at the page with the sign and ask, “Is chopping the tree down the only way to solve the problem?”  Students will have fun letting their imaginations roam wild to find solutions and then comparing them to the answer that Lily and Amanda propose.