Books & Learning Packs

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 10: "The impact of World War II, with particular emphasis on the Australian Home Front"

By Vashti Farrer

Sally and her friends live in Kings Cross where there's a constant fear of possible invasion, especially after Japanese mini-subs enter Sydney Harbour! There are rations and restrictions and blackouts and the constant worry of having fathers serving overseas. Even Sal's eccentric Gran can't always cheer her up as she waits for her Dad to come home.

Vashti Farrer is an author well known for her books for young people and her wonderful historical fiction. This account of the Second World War as viewed through a young Sydney girl's eyes is an accurate, exciting and invaluable record for all youngsters who would like to know about this important period in Australian history.

Aligns perfectly with the Year 10 history syllabus "The importance of World War 2 with particular emphasis on the home front…"

This text also supports differentiation of learning by having accessible entry points and multiple exit points. The students can read the text and the teacher can provide opportunities for them to display skills reflective of Blooms Taxonomy.

Suitable for Upper Primary to mid Secondary. Published by the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Qld) Inc, 2012. Soft cover, 105 photographs, 112 pages. ISBN 978-0-9804480-4-7

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum : History for Year 9 and the study of contextual text  within the Australian Curriculum : English [Literature Strand] for Years 5-9.

Two children who have attended the interment ceremony for the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial are somewhat bewildered as to why this event took place. In a "dream sequence" the ghost of the Unknown Australian Soldier takes the children on a journey back in time to Gallipoli, the Middle East, the Western Front, etc. Suit middle primary to lower secondary.

ISBN 0-9577957-3-4

Published 2001
Author - Mary Small
Illustrator - Anne Langridge
Paperback with celloglaze cover; 32 pp excluding cover; B5 Landscape; Colour illustrations superimposed on photos

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 9.

A comprehensive account of WW1 and Australians’ battlefield experiences at Gallipoli, on the Western Front and in the Middle East. Includes the desert campaigns fought by the lighthorsemen and the contribution of the Navy, Flying Corps and the nurses.
Suit middle primary to lower secondary.

ISBN 0 9757123 5 7
Author-Matt Anderson
Second edition
Published 2006
Paperback; 40 pp
B5 Portrait
Colour images and B&W photographs throughout.

By Matt Anderson

This resource aligns with the Australian  Curriculum : History for Years 3 and 6 as well as the historical context component in the Australian Curriculum : English [Literature Strand]for Year 5.

Each letter of the alphabet is used to represent an ANZAC related theme (e.g. W is for War Memorial).

Suit middle primary - lower secondary.
2nd Ed (revised) - ISBN  978-0-9804480-2-3
Paperback with celloglaze cover 26 pp excluding cover; B5 size; full colour

An illustrated and pictorial tribute to Australia's tracker dogs in the Vietnam War. (Read more.)

This resource aligns with Australian Curriculum : History for Years 6 and 10 as well as the historical context required in the literature strand of the Australian Curriculum : English Years 5-10.

seek! is a 48-page tribute to the Australian tracker dogs that served in the Vietnam War.
In full colour with more than 110 photos (black & white as well as colour)—plus maps and illustrations—this book gives an overview of the Vietnam War and the service of the Australians who were deployed there; and the role of the eleven dogs that were part of the combat tracker teams that operated during Australia’s commitment from 1966 to 1972.

Authors: Di Burke and Mary Small

Suitable 10 yo to adult. -- ISBN 978-0-9804480-6-1

An A to Z of Australia and the Second World War

By Matt Anderson

Nothing before or since has rivaled Australia's participation in the Second World War, both in its extent and its intensity. The war changed how we saw ourselves as a nation and to whom we would look in the future to underwrite our security. It modernised our industry, swept away the unemployment of the Great Depression, and redefined the role of women at home, in the work force and in the armed services. Through a collection of short overviews and sketches, K is for Kokoda explores these and other aspects of Australians at war in 1939-1945.

Published by the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland), 2010. Soft cover, photographs, 104 pages. ISBN 978-0-9804480-3-0

This resource may be aligned to the Australian Curriculum: English [Literature Strand] to create a variety of literacy text across all year levels.

These posters are also valuable within a Civics and Citizenship  or Communications unit of work at any year level.

Written by Tracey Linnane; ISBN 0 9581625 2 2 

Includes: A collection of 18 quality, full colour A3 posters (6 each for years P-2, 3-5 and 6-7); a teaching plan and student worksheets on CD-ROM and an A3 Display Folder.

A list of strategic questions, developed for use with each peace poster, has been printed on the back of each poster to aid use by teachers during discussions with students. The peace posters and accompanying questions may be used with individual students, in small groups or with the whole class when conducting substantive conversations as part of discussions.

Long-term educational aim is to foster in children: increased awareness of the concept of ‘peace’ in their communities; how it contributes to their lives; and ways in which we think, feel and act peaceably in order to live a healthy, happy and fulfilled life. An important aspect is to assist children to link their understandings, capabilities and attitudes of ‘peace’ with the sacrifices made by our Australian service men and women from the past and present, as we advocate and strive for peace in our lives today.

Shortlisted for The Australian Awards for Excellence in Educational Publishing for 2003.

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum : History  for Year 3. It may also be used within the Australian Curriculum : English [Literature Strand] for Years 1-3 in the Big Book format.

• Primary Teaching and Learning Package
  Published March 2003
  Author - Mary Small
  Illustrator - Ester Kasepuu
  Paperback with celloglaze cover and celloglaze pages; 32 pp excluding cover; Big Book/Portrait; Colour illustrations every page
• Includes:
  A teachers’ manual on CD-ROM written by Tracey Linnane, Early Childhood Consultant;
  The narrated story -- Simpson and Duffy on CD; and
  A set of 4 colour posters telling the Simpson and Duffy story using selected text and illustrations from the book.
  6 x Simpson and Duffy Shelf books

This resource aligns with the Australian Curriculum : History  for Year 3 and the historical text component of the Australian Curriculum : English [Literature Strand] for Years  5-7.

A story about the Australian war horses, the Walers, who went with the Australian troopers to the Boer War in South Africa and with the Light Horsemen to World War 1. Delightful illustrations, many humorous, to help younger readers understand the role of these Australian horses in wartime, the hardships suffered by the men and their horses and the special bond they shared. Suit lower – middle primary.

ISBN 0-9577957-6-9

Published December 2001
Author – Vashti Farrer
Illustrator – Sue O’Loughlin
Paperback with celloglaze cover; 32 pp excluding cover; B5 Portrait; Colour illustrations every page;

The individual book from the In Search of … series.

ISBN 0 9581625 6 5