I've been keeping this blog all through the World War One centenary commemorations. I had no idea there were so many children's books about war and there are many more I could review, both contemporary and from the past. These books are wise, thoughtful, exciting, moving, often very sad; their heroes and heroines are brave, scared, courageous, resourceful and inspiring. I have loved reading them. But Armistice Day 2018 seems like a good time to draw this project to a close. It is wonderful to read about the many joyful projects being planned to mark the centenary of the end of World War One ..read more

Angel of Kokoda (Lothian Children’s Books, 2010) Vietnam diary (Lothian Children’s Books, 2013) The Afghanistan pup (Lothian Children’s Books, 2014) All similar format: hardback, 32 pages with full colour illustrations Subjects: World War Two, Papua New Guinea, Pacific, Vietnam, brothers, Afghanistan, animals, dogs, mascots, picture books (Year 3-6) Synopsis A Papua New Guinea boy helps a wounded Australian soldier along the Kokoda Track. A young man goes off to fight in Vietnam, despite the protests of his brother. A dog is rescued from the ruins of a bombed school and becomes a sold ..read more

A present from the past by Jennifer Beck; illustrated by Lindy Fisher (Scholastic, 2006) 32 pages with colour illustrations Subjects: World War One, France, Christmas, nurses, women in war, grandparents, family, picture books (Year 1-4) Synopsis It’s nearly Christmas time. Emily is waiting with her parents at the airport for her Aunt Mary whom she’s never met before. Aunt Mary has come all the way from England, bringing a special gift: a small oblong parcel, with a note saying “Best wishes from Princess Mary”. Inside, to Emily’s disappointment, is nothing but a small brass box with a da ..read more

War girls: a collection of First World War stories through the eyes of young women (Andersen Press, 2014) Nine stories by Theresa Breslin, Melvin Burgess, Berlie Doherty, Anne Fine, Adele Geras, Mary Hooper, Rowena House, Sally Nicholls and Matt Whyman. 259 pages Subjects: World War One, women in war, short stories, junior fiction (Years 6-10) Synopsis The back blurb says that “this collection of short stories explores how the First World War changed and shaped the lives of women for ever… Some of today’s leading writers for young people present moving portraits of loss and grief, and of hop ..read more

Dreaming the enemy by David Metzenthen (Allen & Unwin, 2016) 47 chapters; 292 pages Subjects: Vietnam, Australia, conscription, veterans, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), young adult fiction (Year 11-13) Synopsis Johnny Shoebridge has come home from fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. It’s hard to readjust to ordinary life with his parents and the girl he used to know. He is haunted by memories of all the things he has seen; literally haunted, by a Viet-Cong ghost fighter called Khan who won’t leave him alone. He is still young and can't understand how he has ended up in this posi ..read more

Grandad’s medals by Tracy Duncan, illustrated by Bruce Potter (Reed, 2005) 32 pages with colour illustrations Subjects: grandparents, Anzac Day, picture books (Year 1-4) Synopsis The first half of this picture book shows a young boy’s relationship with his grandfather. They go fishing together, fly kites and gather pinecones (accompanied by the dog). They stack wood for fires on winter nights when Grandad tells stories “about the old days”, and sometimes the boy plays with the medals he got when he was a soldier in an (unnamed) war, “a long time ago”. All this leads up to Anzac Day ..read more

True Brit: Beatrice - 1940 by Rosemary Zibart, illustrated by George Lawrence  (Kinkajou Press, c2011 - thanks to the publishers for sending me this book to review) 20 chapters; 205 pages with black and white illustrations Subjects: World War Two, England, United States, evacuees, junior fiction (Year 5-8) Synopsis 12-year-old Beatrice lives in London with her upper-class family: mother, father and older brother. When the bombs start falling on London in September 1940, her parents decide to send her as far away as possible to be safe. The Children’s Overseas Reception Board says there ..read more

I’ve just been lucky enough to attend the Ibby 2016 Congress. Ibby stands for International Board on Books for Young People. It’s an international organisation (as the name suggests), founded in Switzerland in 1953, and this is the first time that the two-yearly congress has been held in New Zealand. The theme was Literature in a Multi-Literate World. You can read more about Ibby here. And you can find out more about the Ibby 2016 Congress here, including the programme and speakers. As well as meeting people from around the world, all deeply passionate about children’s literature, I presen ..read more

Toitoi: Anzac special issue (February 2016) 92 pages with full page colour illustrations Subjects: World War One, World War Two, Gallipoli, France, trenches, junior fiction, children’s writing (Year 5-8) Synopsis Toitoi is a quarterly journal for young New Zealand writers and artists, aged 5-13, which publishes “material with an original and authentic voice that other young people can connect to and be inspired by and that reflects the cultures and experiences of life in New Zealand.” It encourages creativity and can also be used in the classroom with teaching notes for each issue. You c ..read more

Bravo! by Philip Waechter and Moni Port, translated by Sally-Ann Spencer (Gecko Press, 2011; original title Der Krakeeler) 32 pages with colour illustrations Subjects:  anger management, anti-war books, peace, animals, fable, picture books (Year 3-6) Synopsis I wouldn’t have thought to review this book, if not for finding it on Raymond Huber’s excellent list of Anti-war books for children. It tells the story of Helena, “a little girl” who “lived in a crooked house, deep in a valley, beside a turquoise stream”. (I love the hint of fairytale in the word “crooked”, and the ex ..read more