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y separately published work icon The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children single work   children's fiction   children's  
Issue Details: First known date: 2004... 2004 The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

In France during World War I, four French children learn about honesty, loyalty, and courage from an English army deserter who tells them a series of stories related to his small, silver donkey charm. (Source: Trove)

Exhibitions

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Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Years 5 and 6 (NSW Stage 3)

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Intercultural understanding, Literacy, Numeracy

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes from publisher’s website.

Affiliation Notes

  • This work is affiliated with the AustLit subset Asian-Australian Children's Literature and Publishing because it has a Japanese translation.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Camberwell, Camberwell - Kew area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2004 .
      image of person or book cover 3414787289608734401.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 191p.
      Description: illus.
      ISBN: 0670042404
    • Cambridge, Massachusetts,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Candlewick Press ,       2006 .
      image of person or book cover 8426087026761874212.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 266p.
      ISBN: 0763629375 9780763629373
    • Camberwell, Camberwell - Kew area, Melbourne - Inner South, Melbourne, Victoria,: Puffin , 2007 .
      person or book cover
      Courtesy of Penguin Boks Australia.
      Extent: 191p.
      ISBN: 9780143301578
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Walker Books [London] ,       2008 .
      image of person or book cover 5809178977957961547.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 216p.
      ISBN: 9781406304299 1406304298
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Walker Books [London] ,       2013 .
      image of person or book cover 6199381919092908472.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 216p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 10 October 2013
      ISBN: 9781406304299
    • Cambridge, Cambridgeshire,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,      :       Candlewick Press ,       2014 .
      image of person or book cover 8624284152750356880.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 272p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 11 February 2014
      ISBN: 9780763672119
Alternative title: 銀のロバ
Transliterated title: Gin'noroba
Language: Japanese
    • Tokyo, Honshu,
      c
      Japan,
      c
      East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,      :       Shufu no Tomosha ,       2006 .
      image of person or book cover 8133828278895626984.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 190p.
      ISBN: 4072497975
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Other Formats

  • Sound recording.
  • Braille.
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Works about this Work

Stories to Treasure Stephanie Owen Reeder , 2013 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 11 May 2013; (p. 26)
Ruins or Foundations : Great War Literature in the Australian Curriculum Clare Rhoden , 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)
An Awfully Big Adventure : Killing Death in War Stories for Children Alison Halliday , 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).
Timeless Words for All Ages Rosemary Sorensen , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier Mail , 30 - 31 July 2005; (p. 3)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction
[Review] The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Ernie Tucker , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: English in Australia , Autumn no. 142 2005; (p. 75-76)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction
A Golden Ride on a Silver Donkey Peter Craven , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 23 October 2004; (p. 5)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction
Glimmers of Hope in the Dark Wood Meg Sorensen , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 23-24 October 2004; (p. 9)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction
[Review] The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children H. M. Saxby , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , November vol. 19 no. 5 2004; (p. 33)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction
Bookshelf Katharine England , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 11 December 2004; (p. 9)
— Review of Mickey's Little Book of Letters Jeri Kroll , 2004 single work children's fiction ; The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Secret Scribbled Notebooks Joanne Horniman , 2004 single work novel
Cultural Clashes Dianne Schallmeiner , 2004 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 267 2004-2005; (p. 70-71)
— Review of The Silver Donkey : A Novel for Children Sonya Hartnett , 2004 single work children's fiction ; Camel Rider Prue Mason , 2004 single work novel ; The Last Muster Leonie Robin Norrington , 2004 single work children's fiction
Children, Adults, Anything Jason Steger , 2004 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 31 October 2004; (p. 30)
The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett Stella Lees , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Summer vol. 12 no. 4 2004; (p. 28)
Making it Sing Pam Macintyre (interviewer), 2005 single work interview
— Appears in: Viewpoint : On Books for Young Adults , Autumn vol. 13 no. 1 2005; (p. 2-4) The editors of Viewpoint talk to Sonya Hartnett about her book The Silver Donkey and how her view on the world influences her writing.
Know the Author : Sonya Hartnett Felicity Carter , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: Magpies : Talking About Books for Children , May vol. 20 no. 2 2005; (p. 14-16)
First Novel Runs into Prized Shortlist Rosemary Sorensen , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 25 - 26 June 2005; (p. 15)
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Awards

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Last amended 19 Jun 2020 13:27:33
Subjects:
Settings:
  • c
    France,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • 1910s
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