Karen Comer

Collecting Stories

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Book Reviews
    • Adult Fiction
    • Adult Non-Fiction
    • Young Adult Fiction
    • Children’s Fiction
    • Picture Books
  • Writing Resources
    • Writing Resources – Adults
    • Writing Resources – Children
    • Writing Notes
  • Editing and Workshop Services
  • Reading List
    • Reading List 2018
    • Reading List 2017
    • Reading List 2016
    • Reading List 2015
  • Blog
  • Contact

One minute’s silence – book review

April 22, 2016 by Karen Comer 2 Comments

One minute's silence

Very happy to have a long weekend for ANZAC day – half the sport commitments and an extra day with my family – love it! Mr 6 has been talking about ANZAC day – the war, the fighting, the dying, the remembering. I read him One minute’s silence, written by David Metzenthen and illustrated by Michael Camilleri. (Miss 9 and Mr 12 read it, too – one of those books that grows with the reader each year. The illustrations are contemporary and sophisticated, the language is emotive so appropriate for a wide range of kids.)

This one is particularly moving because:

  • every sentence begins with something like – In one minute’s silence you can imagine …
  • the use of evocative Australian images – wild colonial boys … a dairy farmer’s dawn … blokes from the big smoke … bare-knuckled bushmen
  • the Turkish viewpoint – the strangers wading through the shallows, intent on streaming into the homeland of the Turkish people … what the Turkish fighters felt when they knew they could hold the high ground
  • the crosshatch illustrations – black and white, maybe a touch of sepia
  • how the illustrations tell a story on top of the words – the book begins with a picture of some older kids in a classroom setting. The same kids are present in every illustrations, part of the war action – they mirror the horror and shock that we, as readers, feel.
  • the inclusion of the truce day, where the Australians and the Turkish met without weapons, sharing cigarettes and shovels as they buried their dead in the cool Turkish earth
  • the simple, yet evocative language – In one minute’s silence, you can imagine the great crop of crosses the Anzacs left behind … and the promises given to never forget the boys who would not wake to the hushed footsteps or the whispered farewells.

Lest we forget.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
«
»

Filed Under: Children's Fiction, Picture Books Tagged With: ANZAC day, book review, children's fiction, picture books

Comments

  1. Pam says

    April 22, 2016 at 8:26 am

    Lovely. History is what makes us. If children can be encouraged to seek it out, they gain so much.

    Reply
  2. Karen Comer says

    April 22, 2016 at 11:18 am

    I agree!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Memory stories
  • Poetry workshop for kids – school holidays
  • My violin, my violin
  • Cassandra speaks – book review
  • ‘The practice’ by Seth Godin – review

Copyright © 2021 · Karen Comer website by LMB web design

Copyright © 2021 · Blossom Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.