Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia. It is a day to remember the soldiers who have fought for our country. It is not a day to glorify war. The day is observed nation wide as a public holiday and there are many dawn services and marches held around the country. Anzac Day is commemorated on April 25. You can see what Wiki has to say about Anzac Day here.
We have always 'done something' for Anzac Day. We've attended the dawn service or gone to the diggers breakfast or watched the RAAF flyover or simply visited our local war memorial. This year with Flossy and Bugsy joining Scouts we will be attending the dawn service and they will march with their group.
This year, for the first time i've felt the need to get them ready, to get myself ready. A couple of years ago i read this lovely post by Jeanne at A Peaceful Day. She has reviewed a number of picture books about Anzac Day. At the time it was too late for me to purchase these books for Anzac Day as the post was only a couple of days in advance. I promised myself that i would come back in 2011 and buy some of the books. Sadly with Possum in hospital right before Anzac Day in 2011 the year also passed me by, but not this year. This year i again read through Jeanne's list and went in search of many of the titles. Sadly some of them are currently OOP. I was able to purchase a few including -
Anzac Day Parade
My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day
My Mother's Eyes
Simpson and his Donkey
Why are they Marching, Daddy?
I also came across The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded. It's not on Jeanne's list but I picked that up too.
I've put the books in our Morning Basket and plan to read from them every morning in the lead up to Anzac Day. Hopefully we can add a few more next year. Have you got any recommendations?
Amber
I have! I'm working on an update to that post as we speak!
ReplyDeleteWow, you are certainly organised... I was just thinking I should go through the Anzac Day books we have. I have a couple you have listed. What are the Jackie French books like? We will be doing some Aussie history later in the year and I was thinking of purchasing a few. Here is a link to a post Tracey, Little Men in My Library, wrote last year. She reviewed a lot of Anzac titles :)
ReplyDeletehttp://homeschoolblogger.com/littlemen/2011/04/anzac-day-books/
I have three new titles to add to my Anzac post too. Just waiting on one to arrive so I can review it properly.
ReplyDelete*The Red Poppy by David Hill - a picture book but perhaps too gruesome and scary for the younger crowd
*Do Not Forget Australia by Sally Murphy and Sonia Kretschmar - a beautiful picture book more suited to the littlies, lovely story
*Lone Pine by Margaret Warner and Susie Brown - still waiting on this one, it was only just been published.
So many books, so little time. :)
Ugh, Blogger is playing up and i can't respond individually, forgive me.
ReplyDeleteJeanne ~ look forward to reading your post
April ~ Thankyou for that link off to take a look. I've not started the Jackie French one yet, but i will let you know what we think. Generally i have found her quite good, we've read a few others.
Tracey ~ Thankyou for those additional suggestions I will be sure to take a look at them all. You are spot on, "So many books, so little time."
I've just been getting organised myself, it always comes around so quickly :-)
ReplyDelete