Brave Company by David Hill - a book to add to your Anzac Day collection.

Anzac Day is one of the most important days in the history of New Zealand.  It was the ignition of a series of events that began the formation of the New Zealand identity and loosened the apron ties of Mother England.  It was also the beginning of unimagined sacrifice by a country with a small population.

As a teacher, I believe that this important part of our history should never be forgotten and is a valuable part of the learning journey for our children.  Consequently I teach an Anzac Day unit each year and supply and read a selection of war stories to the children.

Last year I reviewed the David Hill novel My Brother's War set in WWI about two brothers, one who volunteered to serve and one who was a conscientious objector but was forced onto the battlefield against his beliefs.  I had read this book to my class and it encouraged other children to read it for themselves and even one child to ask her mother to purchase a copy for her.  Since that review I purchased another David Hill book focused on a different war.

Brave Company is set during the Korean Conflict and the main character is 16 year old Russell who is a member of the New Zealand Navy serving on a ship called HMNZS Taupo which has been sent to participate in the Korean Conflict.  Korea is war rarely discussed in terms of every day conversations on war, but New Zealand sent 4700 soldiers to serve during the 1950-1953 war and then as a peace keeping force during the armistice until 1957, and 1300 sailors served on frigates during the war and armistice, and all up 45 military personnel were lost.  (www.nzhistory.net.nz - Korean War)

I had a great uncle serve in Korea.  The first time I did an Anzac Day unit my Gran lent me a postcard Uncle T sent home about Christmas time with the Christmas Day menu on it.  I also treasure the photo I acquired of him in uniform with my great grandfather (who served in WWI) and great grandmother.  Uncle T saw enough of war in Korea to oppose his own son joining the army to serve in Vietnam.

This is the front cover and the blurb on the back cover:

Russell's family has a secret about an uncle who served and died in WWII who Russell once looked up to.  During his time in Korea Russell finds out about his uncle and discovers not all in what it appears to be.

 

Russell is a boy seaman on a frigate and the battle scene the frigate is involved in is tense and described in detail.  The tension is built throughout the book with innuendo about his uncle weaved through.  Hill doesn't reveal the questions asked about Russell's uncle early in the book.  They emerge as Russell's character is revealed and he meets a man who served with his uncle as he makes several trips into the battlefields of Korea. 

 

The book also reveals the plight of the Korean people as they fled their homes in the battle zone and the impact upon the children in particular.  Russell makes connections with a brother and sister in this predicament and demonstrates another side to his character as his understanding of their situation develops.

 

Again this is a great book to engage children in the realities and impacts of war.  It is a particularly good book to target boys aged 10 up to read, but I believe girls will also read this book.  I would definitely read it to a class and supply it as independent reading material.

Other really cool books for Anzac Day!

I got a bit of a surprise the other week when I pulled out all the books I have purchased over the last few years in my obsession for great resources for Anzac Day.  The other week I shared some books I had purchased this year, but I thought today would be a good day to share the books I've bought and used previously.

First up is a great book called Solder in the Yellow Socks by Janice Marriott about New Zealand's double Victoria Cross winner Charles Upham and his deeds during World War II.  I love this book, as it combines chapter and pictures, by illustrator Bruce Potter, to tell the story.  It is full of wonderful new interest words, and I have used it as a reading book with my class with lots of great learning.  Last time we even exchanged emails with the author to find out about how she wrote the book.

Grandad's Medals is written by Tracy Duncan and illustrated by Bruce Potter (who does beautiful illustrations).  A lovely, touching story about a young boy and his Grandad.  It talks about his relationship with Grandad and how Grandad marches on Anzac Day with his set of medals.  The young boy is noticing that there are fewer of his Grandad's mates marching this year.

Set on the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in World War II, Photographs in the Mud by Dianne Wolfer has beautiful pictures.  This is a story of an Australian soldier and a Japanese soldier lying injured together sharing photos and memories of their families back home.  It may bring a tear to your eye.

The book, Wartime Memories, is in an old fashioned magazine style and has lots of tidbits about life during World War II in New Zealand and at the battlefields.

The Donkey Man, by Glyn Harper, is a great book to capture the children's attention about the contribution of animals in the battle field.  I have used this book with a reading group previously.  You can find out more by looking at the post I have published previously.

I've also used Nicolas Brasch's book Gallipoli Reckless Valour with a reading group.  It is well set out with wonderful photos, maps and copies of posters and advertising from World War I.

My Marine is written by Phyllis Johnston about when the US Marines came to her community during WWII when she was a child.  She became jealous of her sister going to the local dances with the Marines and wanted a Marine of her own.  We've just finished reading the book Black Boots and Buttonhooks as a shared novel by Phyllis about her mother, May, as a child, so my class was amazed to find the link that May was the mother in this story.

This book, A Day to Remember, goes back to the first Anzac rememberance ceremony after the Gallipoli campaign and how Anzac Day has been commemorated in the years since.  Jackie French has included parts of the ceremony such as the piece from the poem For the Fallen by Lawrence Binyon, which my students recognised as they read the book because we used it for Poem of the Week.  Mark Wilson's illustrations are poignant.

Animals have been an important part of battlefield events throughout history.  Only a Donkey demonstrates animals paying tribute to their peers on the battlefield.  Celeste Walters writes from the point of view of the animals.  Patricia Mullins creates wonderful illustrations. 

A little girl's father is away at war and she makes Anzac Biscuits for him.  Phil Cummings, the author of Anzac Biscuits, writes the experience of making the biscuits in tandem with the experience of being in the trenches.  The muted pictures by Owen Swan bring a gravity to the father's situation, but highlight the innocence of childhood.

Le Quesnoy - The story of the town New Zealand saved is also written by Glyn Harper.  It is beautifully illustrated and tells the tale of one of the final actions of WWI when New Zealand soldiers liberated the French town of Le Quesnoy from the German army.  Jenny Coopers simple, colourful pictures bring to life the experiences of the soldiers of both sides and the towns people.

This is the story written by Feana Tu'akoi of an Anzac Day through the eyes of young Tyson who doesn't understand why Mum and Poppa would want to celebrate anything as stupid as war at the Dawn Parade.  Lest We Forget brings to life the tandem extremes of why we remember:  the futility of war verses the honouring of sacrifice by brave (and scared) men.  Elspeth Alix Batt's haunting illustrations of the Dawn Service contrast with the warmness of the family home.

This is a great reference book for primary school students on the facts of Gallipoli.  The Anzacs at Gallipoli has lots of good photos in it, clear headings and little side bars of information.  Some of the photos are confronting, but are presented in an understated way.  It also sets out each of the major battles that happened during the campaign.

Anzac Day Parade by Glenda Kane and Lisa Allen is based on a veteran of Crete talking with a young boy about the aerial invasion of German para-troops and the battle that followed.  The language is colloquial and in short, haunting passages.  The illustrations are a mixture of the present time and the old veteran's memories.

Caesar the Anzac Dog by Patricia Stroud is beautifully illustrated by Bruce Potter.  It is a great picture book for older primary school students as there is a lot of text on each page, but can be shared with younger students over several days.  It tells the story of one of our more heroic animals who went to war and did his part to help the soldiers.

Philippa Werry wrote Anzac Day the New Zealand Story so that students could have a one stop book on what happened at Gallipoli, the Western Front, why we have Anzac Day and how we commemorate it in New Zealand.  It covers the people the places, cenotaph, where the idea of poppies come from, the origins of the word 'digger', relevant websites, things to do, paintings, poems, abstracts from diaries and letters, photos....

Written by David Hill (My Brother's War, Brave Company) and illustrated by Fifi Coston (I remember her doing arty crafty stuff on tv after school when I was a kid!), this gorgeous, touching book, The Red Poppy, also includes a CD with a song called Little Red Poppy by Rob Kennedy.  This story is about a young soldier, Jim, possibly his first time in the trenches, getting ready to go over the top in an attack.  He is wounded and ends up in a shell crater with a wounded German soldier, Karl, and they are found by Nipper the messenger dog. 

 

 

Don't forget about other great books such as The Bantam and the Soldier  and Lotte: the Gallipoli Nurse as well.  The My Story collection also has some brilliant novels for the independent readers of the older students.

Anzac Day books I'm going to use this coming term.

Anyone who has delved into this blog before may have noticed that I have one or two posts about what I have taught or done with my class for Anzac Day.  (See the label list on the side to find other Anzac Day posts). 

 

This year Anzac Day falls right in the middle of the term break (again) in New Zealand.  Yesterday I went shopping.  I had seen the book shop brochures and the Scholastic Book Club, so I had a fair idea what this year's crop of new books on Anzac Day were... and I couldn't resist.

 

First up is a picture book, Jim's Letters, by Glyn Harper (the Massey University professor who also wrote The Donkey Man) and illustrated by Jenny Cooper.

 

 

 

What a beautifully illustrated and presented book.  The premise is simple: two brothers, one off to Gallipoli, the younger at home on the farm with the family, writing letters to each other.  The narrative simply states who sent the letter from where and when.  The rest of the story is told through the letters themselves: postcards, letters (some which have to be lifted open or taken out of an envelope), one on a scrap of cardboard.

 

It is a gorgeous hard back book, but not one I'll be letting my class have willy-nilly with the pull outs and lift ups that could easily be ripped or lost.  I will be setting some clear parameters around how this book will be shared.

 

At the end of the book it talks about "boy soldiers" - the soldiers who were under age, some as young as 14, who fought, died and survived Gallipoli.  This will be an interesting avenue of learning to take with the class.

 

The next book is The Anzac Puppy by Peter Millett and Trish Bowles.  This is a paperback picture book.

 

 

Again, a beautifully illustrated book.  It continues on with a theme well worn now in children's war picture books of animals at war.  The premise is that a little girl gets a puppy called Freda, a New Zealand soldier comes along and likes the dog so takes her to the Western Front as the mascot for the company.  The young soldier takes solace in the dog as his friends are killed or felled by sickness.  And I'm not going to tell you the rest because it will spoil it for you.

 

Apparently there was a dog called Freda with New Zealand troops on the Western Front, and that dog has inspired this story, although this is a fictitious story.  At the end of the story there is an explanation about what is now known about the real Freda and the soldiers she was with.

 

The third book is another paperback picture book, Best Mates, by Philippa Werry and Bob Kerr.  Many teachers and students will know Philippa's work with the School Journal and Connected series, while Bob Kerr is most famous for his illustration in Terry and the Gunrunners and After the War.



 

 

This story introduces the reader to three best mates, the narrator and his mates Harry and Joe, who grew up together on the same street and went to school together.  Then they signed up to go to war together.  It goes on to explain how they went to Gallipoli, what happened there, what happened after the war and a return to Gallipoli years later.  I won't spoil the rest.

 

Again, at the end of the story, there is some additional information about where Gallipoli is, how our troops got there, what it was like, how we remember those who fell, and some websites to visit.

 

This book I have not read yet (I've only had it 27 hours at the time of writing).  This is David Hill's latest book Brave Company.  David Hill's book My Brother's War  was the focus of my last blog.

This book is about sixteen-year-old Boy Seaman Russell Purchas who is stationed on HMNZS Taupo  in 1951 going into the Korean conflict.

I'm very excited about this book because most New Zealand war literature for children focuses on World Wars one and two, and there is very little on any later wars and conflicts we have sent children to.  Also, there is very little for children on our own New Zealand wars in the mid 19th century (hint, hint writers).

Now, I probably won't read it to my class, but I intend on reading it myself and then "selling" the book to the class by reading a teaser page, and then hopefully one of my more confident readers will take it on to read.  I'm picking this will be another great book to get boys reading, but I only have girls that will pick it up at the moment.