'Tomorrow When the War Began' & 'Fox'

'Tomorrow When the War Began' by John Marsden

I would really like to talk about the whole series, but I decided to start at the beginning with this book! Marsden creates a mini-world in such a way that the reader knows that the characters and the setting are Australian from the very first page. The way the characters communicate with each other includes colloquial Australian dialogue, such as '...I reckon', '...I'm keen' and '...the Landie'. The Tomorrow series contains exciting and adventurous books that would really appeal to a number of adolescents.



'Fox' by Margaret Wild (illustrations by Ron Brooks)

The first thing that appealed to me with this picture book was (surprise, surprise), the pictures! When I actually read the book after appreciating the artwork, I identified a number of different themes, such as difference (with the dog and the magpie), and intrusion (with the fox). The thing I liked most about this book is that the start of the book is not traditional, in that the story and the characters have not really been set up, it comes in during the middle of the action. There is also no clear resolution at the end of the book, which forces the reader to think about possible endings and conclusions. Also, this would be a great book for shared reading, as it provides the teacher with a number of possibilities for questions.