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Reading Australia
This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.
Unit Suitable For AC: Year 6 (NSW Stage 3)
Duration This unit is intended to take 6 - 10 weeks to complete. The timeline includes preliminary study so the teacher can familiarise students with the themes of the book. Students can complete the reading of the book through a mixture of shared, modelled and guided reading sessions with the teacher or through independent reading.
Curriculum Summary
Find a summary table for Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions and NSW syllabus outcomes for this unit.
Themes
Anzac Day, Australian Children's Laureates, friendship, History, human spirit, resilience, war
General Capabilities
Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical Understanding, Literacy
Notes
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Recommended by Holocaust Centre North as an alternative to The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: https://hcn.org.uk/blog/the-problem-with-the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas/ (Sighted: 15/11/2023)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Dyslexic edition
- Braille.
- Large print.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Stories to Treasure
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 May 2013; (p. 26) -
Grasping the Unimaginable : Recent Holocaust Novels for Children by Morris Gleitzman and John Boyne
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , December vol. 41 no. 4 2010; (p. 355-366)'This discussion explores the role that storytelling and stories might have in leading children towards an awareness of uncertainty and ambiguity in relation to Holocaust representation. It focuses on Morris Gleitzman’s Once (2006), its sequel Then (2008), and John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2006) to consider the narrative techniques used to draw young readers into an understanding of the Holocaust. In particular, the discussion examines the role of silence within these narratives to suggest that a meaningful dialogue with silence is a crucial aspect in communicating the fractured nature of Holocaust history. Literature aimed at a young audience engages explicitly with the oft-cited injunction not to forget the Holocaust by setting out to inform a new generation of readers about the horrors of the Nazi genocide. In my analysis of these texts, however, I want to consider whether we should assume that such works do necessarily perform a progressive educative role. The article argues that the blunt didacticism of Boyne’s text might close down possibilities for the child reader’s imaginative engagement with the ungraspable nature of the Holocaust. In contrast, Gleitzman’s novels confront the child reader with a complex set of ideas about the relationship between narrative and subjectivity.'
-
The Darker Facts of Life
Sophie Cunningham
(interviewer),
2008
single work
interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 67 no. 4 2008; (p. 202-213) -
[Review] Once
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 20 no. 1 2006; (p. 53-54)
— Review of Once 2005 single work children's fiction -
An Awfully Big Adventure : Killing Death in War Stories for Children
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 16 no. 2 2006; (p. 90-95) Halliday locates a gap in Kerry Mallan's study concerning discourses of death and dying in children's literature, and claims, 'A curious omission is death in war, from the legal killing of and by soldiers, to the horror underlying the euphemism of 'collateral damage'' (90). Halliday suggests that despite a 'proliferation of discourses [on the] manifestations of death... there is a lingering taboo in dealing with death in war stories, especially for older readers' (90). The essay refers to some of the strategies and narrative techniques used to represent war in children's fiction from an array of novels, including several Australian children's texts by contemporary authors, Morris Gleitzman, Sonya Hartnett, Anthony Eaton, Serpil Ural and David Metzenthen. Strategies discussed include discourses of hope, the use of metaphor, reader-subject positioning and setting with Halliday concluding that, 'When death is present and brutally explicit...cultural pressures about the appropriateness of reading material and consequent censorship occur' (94).
-
In Short : Fiction
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20-21 August 2005; (p. 22)
— Review of Something Fishy 2005 selected work short story ; Once 2005 single work children's fiction -
Once Upon a Time ...
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 20 - 21 August 2005; (p. 6)
— Review of Once 2005 single work children's fiction -
This Week's Selections
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 27 August 2005; (p. 16)
— Review of Once 2005 single work children's fiction -
Kids' Lit
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 27-28 August 2005; (p. 10)
— Review of The Venice Job 2005 single work children's fiction ; The Secret World of Wombats 2005 single work non-fiction ; Once 2005 single work children's fiction ; Irving the Magician 2005 single work picture book -
End of Innocence
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 13 September vol. 123 no. 6487 2005; (p. 68-69)
— Review of Once 2005 single work children's fiction ; East of Time 2005 single work autobiography ; The Book Thief 2005 single work novel -
Writing Politics into Children's Books
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 10 September 2005; (p. 17) -
The Children's Book Council of Australia Judges' Report 2006
2006
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 50 no. 3 2006; (p. 8-14) -
An Awfully Big Adventure : Killing Death in War Stories for Children
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Papers : Explorations into Children's Literature , December vol. 16 no. 2 2006; (p. 90-95) Halliday locates a gap in Kerry Mallan's study concerning discourses of death and dying in children's literature, and claims, 'A curious omission is death in war, from the legal killing of and by soldiers, to the horror underlying the euphemism of 'collateral damage'' (90). Halliday suggests that despite a 'proliferation of discourses [on the] manifestations of death... there is a lingering taboo in dealing with death in war stories, especially for older readers' (90). The essay refers to some of the strategies and narrative techniques used to represent war in children's fiction from an array of novels, including several Australian children's texts by contemporary authors, Morris Gleitzman, Sonya Hartnett, Anthony Eaton, Serpil Ural and David Metzenthen. Strategies discussed include discourses of hope, the use of metaphor, reader-subject positioning and setting with Halliday concluding that, 'When death is present and brutally explicit...cultural pressures about the appropriateness of reading material and consequent censorship occur' (94). -
The Darker Facts of Life
Sophie Cunningham
(interviewer),
2008
single work
interview
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 67 no. 4 2008; (p. 202-213) -
Stories to Treasure
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 May 2013; (p. 26)
Awards
- 2010 nominated German Youth Literature Award — Jugendjury Einmal
- 2010 selected Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis
- 2007 winner KOALA Awards — Fiction for Years 7-9
- 2006 nominated Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards — Best Language Development Book for Upper Primary Children (2005-2013)
- 2006 honour book CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Book of the Year: Younger Readers
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cPoland,cEastern Europe, Europe,