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Forward March
An extraordinary depiction of all that Anzac Day means to us in honour of the men and women who returned from war and the sons, fathers, grandfathers and good mates who did not. From the publisher.
- GenresWarPicture Books
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2016
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About the author
Christobel Mattingley
68 books12 followersChristobel Mattingley has been writing since she was eight years old and had her first pieces published in the children's pages of magazines and newspapers. Her first book, The Picnic Dog, was published in 1970, when she had three young children. While they were growing up she worked as a librarian in schools and in a teachers' college. She has been self-employed as a writer since 1974 and has travelled widely in Australia and overseas, speaking in schools and libraries. Christobel Mattingley has published over 30 books for children. Some of her works have been translated into other languages, have won various awards in Australia and the USA, and have been made into films for ABC Television. For most of the 1980s she worked with Aboriginal people and researched the history Survival in Our Land. In 1990 she received the Advance Australia Award for Service to Literature, and in 1996 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for service to literature, particularly children's literature, and for community service through her commitment to social and cultural issues. No Gun for Asmir received a High Commendation in the Australian Human Rights Awards of 1994.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 18, 2016
Forward March is nothing like I thought it would be. Seeing this front cover, I expected full double page spreads and an in depth tale of the ANZAC's plight. Instead, it is more historical and factual based, giving the bare facts and similar in many ways to Jackie French's A Day To Remember. This isn't a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination; it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be.
Forward March is an informative and easy to read, well documented and basic introduction to the ANZAC Legend and ANZAC Day traditions. Covering everything from the ANZAC DAY March to the experience of those at Gallipoli and to more contemporary wars, it is a beautiful and solemn picture book ideal for young children.
Kennett's illustrations further enhance Mattingley's simple, but comprehensive, text by taking the reader that one step further into all aspects of the war experience. Each page is broken up into a number of boxes featuring painted images of the soldiers, trenches, conditions, clothing and the marches. The boxed in illustrations and the book's darker colour pallet further enhance the historical nature and faded memory representation of the war. It's worth mentioning too that some of Kennett's paintings are so detailed, that I thought I was looking at a faded picture on more than one occasion.
I do need to note here though, that while this book goes a long way to include contemporary military campaigns and how they relate back to ANZAC Day, like Kokoda and Vietnam etc, it does fail to mention Afghanistan which I found odd.
Although exceptionally delivered in terms of narrative and illustration, its the final three pages that are my favourite from this book by far. The final double page spread is simply heart breaking with the thousands upon thousands of soldiers' graves and the small headstone inscription reading:
Anzacs all, warriors and peacekeepers we will never forget you.
This page packs an emotional punch that is only glimpsed through out the rest of the book through images and mentions of great-grandparents who served and those with medals at the marches. But the final single page with the full painting of the poppies in the field is the one that I found most breathtaking from the book. While the double before will stay with me as a haunting image for years to come, it's this symbolic image that really moved me and offered hope and echoed of past traumas that will stay in the forefront of my mind when I think of this book.
Overall, I think all primary school children should have to read this book at least once in the lead up to ANZAC Day as it puts the whole tradition and memory into perspective without being particularly horrifying, but rather relying on their own shared and relate-able memories (Grandparents with medals, and past ANZAC marches.
This review was originally posted at The Never Ending Bookshelf on April 18, 2016 and can be found here: http://wp.me/p3yY1u-Sk
Forward March is an informative and easy to read, well documented and basic introduction to the ANZAC Legend and ANZAC Day traditions. Covering everything from the ANZAC DAY March to the experience of those at Gallipoli and to more contemporary wars, it is a beautiful and solemn picture book ideal for young children.
Kennett's illustrations further enhance Mattingley's simple, but comprehensive, text by taking the reader that one step further into all aspects of the war experience. Each page is broken up into a number of boxes featuring painted images of the soldiers, trenches, conditions, clothing and the marches. The boxed in illustrations and the book's darker colour pallet further enhance the historical nature and faded memory representation of the war. It's worth mentioning too that some of Kennett's paintings are so detailed, that I thought I was looking at a faded picture on more than one occasion.
I do need to note here though, that while this book goes a long way to include contemporary military campaigns and how they relate back to ANZAC Day, like Kokoda and Vietnam etc, it does fail to mention Afghanistan which I found odd.
Although exceptionally delivered in terms of narrative and illustration, its the final three pages that are my favourite from this book by far. The final double page spread is simply heart breaking with the thousands upon thousands of soldiers' graves and the small headstone inscription reading:
Anzacs all, warriors and peacekeepers we will never forget you.
This page packs an emotional punch that is only glimpsed through out the rest of the book through images and mentions of great-grandparents who served and those with medals at the marches. But the final single page with the full painting of the poppies in the field is the one that I found most breathtaking from the book. While the double before will stay with me as a haunting image for years to come, it's this symbolic image that really moved me and offered hope and echoed of past traumas that will stay in the forefront of my mind when I think of this book.
Overall, I think all primary school children should have to read this book at least once in the lead up to ANZAC Day as it puts the whole tradition and memory into perspective without being particularly horrifying, but rather relying on their own shared and relate-able memories (Grandparents with medals, and past ANZAC marches.
This review was originally posted at The Never Ending Bookshelf on April 18, 2016 and can be found here: http://wp.me/p3yY1u-Sk
May 8, 2016
A touching tribute to those who've returned from war, and those who did not. Simple commentary and moving illustrations make this easy to read for young ones.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews