Little Big Sky
May 2026
ISBN13: 9781923514324
LIST PRICE: AU$ 24.99 / NZ$ 28.99
While this one was sent to me in late April, it arrived too late for ANZAC Day [and didn’t make it to my Blak ANZACs post with titles also from Big Sky], so I decided it would be better kept for my own commemorative Remembrance Day post. And while it is not exactly a picture book it is so plentifully illustrated and so well designed, as is the rest of the series, that it is one worth not only having in your collection but making sure it receives due attention on these special days.
There is much here to share with readers, both primary and secondary, including a great deal of primary source material, maps, Fast Facts, questions to ponder, photographs, vocabulary and activities. In fact, a wealth of material that you can easily build a whole unit of inquiry around supported by just this one book.
Whether you use it for ANZAC or Remembrance Day, Long Tan Day or VP Day, or for any other timely moment, this is a true asset to your collection. I particularly like the final section debunking the ‘myths’ of ANZAC because, while we know what an heroic achievement it was for our Australian and New Zealand troops, there are still so many misconceptions that have now floated about for over a century.
For a read-around-your-topic for your secondary students this is an excellent fit because it brings the pertinent facts and history to them in an extremely palatable and engaging way.
Build your reading list for this topic to include this one as a must-have, as well as such titles as Louise Park’s Last Man Out, the sensational account of her own grandfather, the last man ‘out’ of Gallipoli and Finding Alfie – Michael Morpurgo both of these based in truth. As well a search on the terms Gallipoli, War etc will bring you numerous results from the blog to check your titles. You might add Jackie French’s The Great Gallipoli Escape for which I had the privilege of writing teaching notes, and for a different slant her Secret Sparrow, which offers up a history of the women and girls who were just as heroic during the Great War.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
The Ode of Remembrance, taken from Lawrence Binyon’s poignant poem, For the Fallen, written in the early months of the First World War. It has been reverently and respectfully recited since 1921. And I don’t know about you but it never fails to move me to tears.
Remember to Remember – free resources from the RSL
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