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Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope single work   picture book   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In 1942, Sergeant “Griff” Griffin was a prisoner of war. With Christmas approaching, he decided to make a book for the children cooped up in nearby Changi Prison. The book was said to contain the secrets to happiness. But the enemy was suspicious … With this picture book, award winners Mark Greenwood and Andrew McLean bring to life the inspirational true story of a book that became a National Treasure.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

 Unit Suitable For AC: Year 4 (NSW Stage 2)

Duration 4–5 weeks, several sessions per week

Curriculum Summary

A summary table for Australian Curriculum: English content descriptions and NSW Syllabus outcomes for this unit

Themes

Anzac Day, bravery, Compassion, friendship, happiness, hope, war

General Capabilities

Critical and Creative Thinking, Literacy, Personal and Social Capability

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teacher's notes by the publisher.

Notes

  • Narrative non-fiction.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Glebe, Glebe - Leichhardt - Balmain area, Sydney Inner West, Sydney, New South Wales,: Walker Books Australia , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 730000002776062092.jpeg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 32p.p.
      Note/s:

      • Published 1 August 2018.

      ISBN: 9781925081381
    • Newtown, Marrickville - Camperdown area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Walker Books Australia , 2022 .
      image of person or book cover 7312604939307139632.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 32p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1st April 2022
      ISBN: 9781760654474
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

y separately published work icon The Happiness Box David Griffin , Leslie Greener (illustrator), Sydney : Australasian Publishing Co. , 1947 Z962728 1947 single work picture book children's

Three best friends - a lizard, a monkey and a frog - find a magical box and embark on a quest through the jungle to discover the secret of happiness. 
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (1)

Works about this Work

Forging Truth from Facts : Trauma, Historicity and Australian Children's Picture Books Martin Kerby , Margaret Mary Baguley , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Lion and the Unicorn , September vol. 44 no. 3 2020; (p. 281-301) 'Though they can find themselves constrained by the imagined “demands of children’s literature as sanitary, benign, and didactic” (Tribunella 102), children’s picture book authors and illustrators regularly attempt to engage with “unimaginable, unspeakable, and un-representable horror” (Trezise 43). Whether it be in the form of genocide, war, persecution or displacement, they tend not to shy away from the atrocities of history when searching for subject matter. However, the balancing of the sanitary with the unimaginable demands a compromise. Authors and illustrators invariably soften, perhaps even distort the horror in their efforts to be morally instructive. In their creation of a “parable of war” (MacCallum-Stewart 177) they explore the underlying humanist principles of the stories they tell, rather than historical perspectives. This approach transforms historical particularities into “universals of human experience” (Stephens 238). Trauma is sometimes directly confronted, but this is the exception rather than the rule (Kertzer, “Anxiety” 208). Kidd contends that at “least some of the children’s literature of atrocity turns away from rather than confronts the difficulties of its subject matter, opting for simplistic narratives of character empowerment adapted from self-help literature” (185). For in any battle between hope and trauma, or at least the ones played out in children’s literature, the former usually emerges triumphant. As a result, books such as the three analyzed in this article are often very successful in exploring broader issues of personal morality, but they make for dubious history. The critical and commercial success of works that adopt this approach suggests that the book buying public share this preference for morality tales over historical accuracy.' (Introduction)
[Review] The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope Nola Allen , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 33 no. 3 2018; (p. 24)
— Review of The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope Mark Greenwood , 2018 single work picture book
[Review] The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope Nola Allen , 2018 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , July vol. 33 no. 3 2018; (p. 24)
— Review of The Happiness Box : A Wartime Book of Hope Mark Greenwood , 2018 single work picture book
Forging Truth from Facts : Trauma, Historicity and Australian Children's Picture Books Martin Kerby , Margaret Mary Baguley , 2020 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Lion and the Unicorn , September vol. 44 no. 3 2020; (p. 281-301) 'Though they can find themselves constrained by the imagined “demands of children’s literature as sanitary, benign, and didactic” (Tribunella 102), children’s picture book authors and illustrators regularly attempt to engage with “unimaginable, unspeakable, and un-representable horror” (Trezise 43). Whether it be in the form of genocide, war, persecution or displacement, they tend not to shy away from the atrocities of history when searching for subject matter. However, the balancing of the sanitary with the unimaginable demands a compromise. Authors and illustrators invariably soften, perhaps even distort the horror in their efforts to be morally instructive. In their creation of a “parable of war” (MacCallum-Stewart 177) they explore the underlying humanist principles of the stories they tell, rather than historical perspectives. This approach transforms historical particularities into “universals of human experience” (Stephens 238). Trauma is sometimes directly confronted, but this is the exception rather than the rule (Kertzer, “Anxiety” 208). Kidd contends that at “least some of the children’s literature of atrocity turns away from rather than confronts the difficulties of its subject matter, opting for simplistic narratives of character empowerment adapted from self-help literature” (185). For in any battle between hope and trauma, or at least the ones played out in children’s literature, the former usually emerges triumphant. As a result, books such as the three analyzed in this article are often very successful in exploring broader issues of personal morality, but they make for dubious history. The critical and commercial success of works that adopt this approach suggests that the book buying public share this preference for morality tales over historical accuracy.' (Introduction)
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Awards

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Last amended 26 Apr 2022 08:04:23
Subjects:
  • Changi,
    c
    Singapore,
    c
    Southeast Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
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