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Explaining WWI, Steven Loveridge

The Bantam and the Soldier
Jennifer Beck (Robyn Belton illus)
Scholastic, $19.50,
ISBN 9781775432074

The Anzac Puppy
Peter Millett (Trish Bowles illus)
Scholastic, $19.50,
ISBN 9781775430971

Best Mates: Three Lads Who Went to War Together
Philippa Werry (Bob Kerr illus)
New Holland, $20.00,
ISBN 9781869664114

Jim’s Letters
Glyn Harper (Jenny Cooper illus)
Picture Puffin, $25.00,
ISBN 9780143505907

Anzac Day: The New Zealand Story
Philippa Werry (Bob Kerr illus)
New Holland, $25.00,
ISBN 9781869663803

The contemporary challenge of making sense of WWI is made considerably trickier in regard to young readers with the, (understandable) limits on how the realities of war might be conveyed to the 5-12 age group. Rising to this challenge, and joining the surge of publications accompanying the war’s centenary, the five works reviewed here present aspects of New Zealand’s war experience to young readers. Striking illustrations, some sketched from familiar photographs, aid in this task, conveying scene and tone. Indeed, the attention to expressions and pose (which range from scenes of mirth to downward gazes and thousand-yard stares) are well used to convey mood. They are also imbued with an impressive attention to detail; though I’ll have to ask Bob Kerr how available The Māoriland Worker, which the Best Mates are shown reading, was at Gallipoli.

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Posted in Children, Literature, Review, War

The stories told by spaces, Zachary Athfield

New Zealand’s Lost Heritage: The Stories Behind our Forgotten Landmarks
Richard Wolfe
New Holland, $50.00,
ISBN 9781869663872

New Zealand’s Lost Heritage: The Stories Behind our Forgotten Landmarks discusses 20 formerly intact New Zealand buildings, dating from the early 1800s to the early 1900s. From the outset and throughout, this book is a lament and a commentary on what a shame it is that these buildings are not now preserved and still with us. The introduction is philosophical to some degree and points out that buildings must, at times, perish, and also that developments may, in their turn, be thought worthy by future generations. But the pervasive tone is that these buildings are lost and that we should mourn and regret their passing, even be punished for permitting their demolition.

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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

The Veblen effect, Roger Blackley

Behind the Canvas: An Insider’s Guide to the New Zealand Art Market Warwick Henderson New Holland, $45.00, ISBN 9781869663674 In a recent New Zealand Listener, cultural curmudgeon Hamish Keith commented on the dangers of the art market: “Buying and selling

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Posted in Art, Non-fiction, Review

Awestruck at Otira, Neville Bennett

At Home on the Road Jill Malcolm New Holland, $24.95, ISBN 1877246658 Southern Journeys: South Island People and Places Roy Sinclair Random House, $34.95, ISBN 186941439X There is a kea in my garden. When I hang out the washing, a

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Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
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