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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Early on Christmas morning the guns stop firing. A deathly silence creeps over the pitted and ruined landscape. A young soldier peers through a periscope over the top of the trench. Way out in no-man's-land, he sees a small red shape moving on the barbed wire. A brightly coloured robin is trapped. One wing is flapping helplessly.
'An eloquent counterpoint to the senselessness and inhumanity of war, In Flanders Fields tells the story of a young homesick World War I soldier, who risks his life to cross the no-man's land and rescue a robin caught in the barbed wire that separates the opposing forces, dug into their trenches. This moving picture book is a plea for compassion.'
Source: Penguin Books.
Notes
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This is affiliated with Dr Laurel Cohn's Picture Book Diet because it contains representations of food and/or food practices.
Food depiction - Incidental
Food types - Everyday drinks
Food practices - Eating out - snack
Gender n/a Signage n/a Positive/negative value n/a Food as sense of place - Historical
Setting n/a Food as social cohesion - Rituals
Food as cultural identity - White Australian characters
Food as character identity n/a Food as language n/a
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda : Australian Picture Books (1999–2016) and the First World War
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Children's Literature in Education , vol. 50 no. 2 2019; (p. 91-109)'Over the past two decades children’s picture books dealing with the Australian experience during the First World War have sought to balance a number of thematic imperatives. The increasingly sentimentalised construct of the Australian soldier as a victim of trauma, the challenge of providing a moral lesson that reflects both modern ideological assumptions and the historical record, and the traditional use of Australian war literature as an exercise in nation building have all exerted an influence on the literary output of a range of authors and illustrators. The number of publications over this period is proof of the enduring fascination with war as a topic as well as the widespread acceptance that this conflict has been profoundly significant in shaping Australian public and political culture and perceptions about national character and identity (Beaumont, 1995, p. xvii). As MacCallum-Stewart (2007, p. 177) argues, authors and illustrators must therefore balance notions of ‘respect’ for a national foundation myth with a ‘pity of war’ approach that reflects modern attitudes to conflict. Whatever their ideological commitment, many authors and illustrators respond to this challenge by adopting an approach that serves to indoctrinate readers into the Anzac tradition (Anzac refers to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps raised for war in 1914. It has become a generic term for Australian and New Zealand soldiers. The Anzac tradition established at Gallipoli, Australia’s first major military campaign, has been traditionally viewed as the nation’s founding.'
Source: Publication blurb.
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The ANZAC Tribulations at Gallipoli in Recent Australian Children’s Literature
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Anglica : An International Journal of English Studies , vol. 28 no. 3 2019; (p. 85-96)'Generations of Australian children have been presented with iconic figures and values associated with the events of 1915 at Gallipoli and involved in the ritual practices of remembrance exemplified by Anzac Day ceremonies throughout a corpus of children’s literature which ranges from picture books for pre-schoolers to young adult fiction. This paper aims to broadly identify the narrative strategies at work in a selection of recent stories of brave animals helping the Aussie boys under fire or paeans to the duty of personal and communal remembrance and to examine them in a larger context of national self-representation.' (Publication abstract)
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Representations of National Identity in Fictionalized History : Children's Picture Books and World War I
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship , vol. 23 no. 2 2017; (p. 126-147)'With the centenary of World War I (WWI) commemorative events taking place, Australia’s involvement in this conflict is popularly seen as inextricably linked to a definitive national identity. Numerous children’s books have been published that represent events from WWI. Eight such picture books, aimed at primary school students and published post-2010, are selected for analysis. This analysis comes at a time when there is significant attention being paid by governments, community organisations, media outlets and the general public to the anniversary of WWI. Therefore, it is timely to analyse representations of this conflict, particularly to understand contemporary representations aimed at children.'
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Ruins or Foundations : Great War Literature in the Australian Curriculum
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 12 no. 1 2012; 'The Great War has been represented in Australian curricula since 1914, in texts with tones ranging from bellicose patriotism to idealistic pacifism. Australian curricula have included war literature as one way of transmitting cultural values, values that continue to evolve as successive generations relate differently to war and peace. Changes in ethical perspectives and popular feeling have guided text selection and pedagogy, so that texts which were once accepted as foundational to Australian society seem, at later times, to document civilisation's ruin.
In recent years, overseas texts have been preferred above Australian examples as mediators of the Great War, an event still held by many to be of essential importance to Australia. This paper first considers arguments for including Great War texts on the national curriculum, exploring what war literature can, and cannot, be expected to bring to the program. Interrogating the purpose/s of war literature in the curriculum and the ways in which the texts may be used to meet such expectations, the paper then discusses styles of war texts and investigates whether there is a case for including more texts by Australian authors.' (Author's abstract)
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New Texts for the Secondary English Classroom
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: English in Australia , Winter no. 140 2004; (p. 31-37)
— Review of Black Juice 2004 selected work short story ; Boys of Blood and Bone 2003 single work novel ; Finding Cassie Crazy 2003 single work novel ; Fly a Rebel Flag : The Battle at Eureka 2004 single work biography ; Fox 2000 single work picture book ; In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book ; Mao's Last Dancer 2003 single work autobiography ; Nights in the Sun 2003 single work novel ; One Night 2003 single work novel ; Ten Out of Ten 2003 selected work short story
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Review : In Flanders Fields
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 46 no. 3 2002; (p. 18)
— Review of In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book -
Children's Book Council of Australia : Review of Short-Listed Books 2003
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Classroom , vol. 23 no. 5 2003; (p. 6-17)
— Review of The Girl from the Sea 2002 single work novel ; Painted Love Letters 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Song of an Innocent Bystander 2002 single work novel ; Walking Naked 2002 single work novel ; Njunjul the Sun 2002 single work novel ; The Messenger 2002 single work novel ; Where in the World 2002 single work children's fiction ; Rain May and Captain Daniel 2002 single work children's fiction ; Horrendo's Curse 2002 single work children's fiction ; Tom Jones Saves the World 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Who Planned to Live an Unusual Life) 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Barrumbi Kids 2002 single work children's fiction ; The Potato People 2001 single work picture book ; Guess the Baby 2002 single work picture book ; Too Loud Lily 2002 single work picture book ; A Year on Our Farm 2002 single work picture book ; Bear and Chook 2002 single work picture book ; Playmates 2002 single work picture book ; Old Tom's Holiday 2002 single work picture book ; Jethro Byrde, Fairy Child 2002 single work picture book ; In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book ; Diary of a Wombat 2002 single work picture book ; Awesome! : Australian Art for Contemporary Kids 2002 single work information book ; The Mighty Murray 2002 single work non-fiction ; Discover and Learn About Australian Forests and Woodlands 2002 single work information book ; Iron in the Blood : Convicts and Commandants in Colonial Australia 2002 single work information book ; Black Snake : The Daring of Ned Kelly 2002 single work biography ; Endangered! Working to Save Animals at Risk 2002 single work information book -
Prize Pick
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 19 July 2003; (p. 6)
— Review of The Potato People 2001 single work picture book ; A Year on Our Farm 2002 single work picture book ; Diary of a Wombat 2002 single work picture book ; Old Tom's Holiday 2002 single work picture book ; Jethro Byrde, Fairy Child 2002 single work picture book ; In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book Heidi Maier surveys the nominations for the Best Picture Book category of the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards and gives her judgement on which book deserves to win the 2003 award. -
New Texts for the Secondary English Classroom
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: English in Australia , Winter no. 140 2004; (p. 31-37)
— Review of Black Juice 2004 selected work short story ; Boys of Blood and Bone 2003 single work novel ; Finding Cassie Crazy 2003 single work novel ; Fly a Rebel Flag : The Battle at Eureka 2004 single work biography ; Fox 2000 single work picture book ; In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book ; Mao's Last Dancer 2003 single work autobiography ; Nights in the Sun 2003 single work novel ; One Night 2003 single work novel ; Ten Out of Ten 2003 selected work short story -
Hard Covers
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 April 2002; (p. 9)
— Review of In Flanders Fields 2002 single work picture book -
Field of Dreams
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 17 May 2003; (p. 15) -
Oh, What a Lovely War
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 17 August 2003; (p. 10) The Canberra Times , 16 August 2003; (p. 3a) -
CBCA Acceptance Speeches : Brian Harrison-Lever
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , November vol. 47 no. 4 2003; (p. 4-5) -
CBCA Acceptance Speeches : Norman Jorgensen
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , November vol. 47 no. 4 2003; (p. 4) -
The Children's Book Council of Australia Annual Awards 2003
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: Reading Time : The Journal of the Children's Book Council of Australia , August vol. 47 no. 3 2003; (p. 2-12)
Awards
- 2003 shortlisted CBCA Book of the Year Awards — CBCA Award for New Illustrator For Brian Harrison-Lever for the illustrations
- 2003 winner CBCA Book of the Year Awards — Picture Book of the Year
- 2002 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Premier's Prize for Writing for Children
- Flanders, Belgium, Western Europe, Europe,