Next year is the centenary commemorations of the war in
France during WWI. If you are teaching an Anzac unit and have started
looking for resources and planning events, here are some you might be interested
in:
Due out late February 2016 is my new book ‘Anzac
Heroes’ (Scholastic), which tells the stories of 30 Australian and New Zealand
men and women during WWI and WWII. Readers will find out about significant
battles fought during those two wars and how Australian and New Zealand men and
women survived and contributed to the war. Also included are world maps showing
where the battles were fought, a timeline of world events, historic
photographs, and action illustrations by Marco Ivancic. Includes the stories of
army, navy and airforce men, as well as five women and four indigenous
soldiers.
I’ll be sharing stories from the Anzac Heroes book and
information about the two world wars while touring the country giving ‘Anzac’
talks – see poster above. If you would like to book a visit, please contact
Rosemary Tisdall, New Zealand Book Council or myself. I’ll use PowerPoint, videos, props, and encourage children to
interact with the presentation. If your school is outside of Auckland I'll need to organise several school visits in your area to make it viable.
Already planned is a Taupo tour from 11-15th April and a Queenstown
tour from 6-10th June. If you are in those regions and would like a
school visit please contact me.
From February onwards you can access a free Anzac teaching
resource from my website: www.mariagill.co.nz.
We’re planning a ‘What Lies Beneath Exhibition’ with a focus
on children’s war books at several venues around the country. I will keep you
informed once venues are confirmed.
Other resources that will help you with your planning are:
Philippa Werry’s blog: http://childrenswarbooks.blogspot.co.nz/
Philippa has reviewed most New Zealand and Australian books written with a war
theme. Philippa has also written three excellent war books herself ‘Anzac Day’,
‘Dawn Parade’ and ‘Best Mates’.
For younger children, I’d also include Glyn Harper’s three
picture books (illustrated by Jenny Cooper): Jim’s Letters, Le Quesnoy,
Roly the Anzac Donkey. Plus David Hill’s book (illustrated by Fifi
Colston) ‘The Red Poppy’, and Peter Millet’s ‘The Anzac Puppy’. There’s
also been some excellent Australian Anzac stories told by Claire Saxby.
For older children: David Hill, Ken Catran, Morris
Gleitzman, and Jackie French have written several war-themed junior fiction
novels. There’s also the excellent ‘Kiwis at War’ series published by
Scholastic: 1914 ‘Riding into War’ by Susan Brocker, 1915 by Diana Menefy, 1916
by David Hair. Also Anna Mackenzie’s ‘Evie’s War’.
You probably know about these sites:
Good luck with your
planning!
