4 Moving Novels for Older Readers this ANZAC Day

Most children have learnt the historical facts about ANZAC Day in primary school but sometimes it can be more challenging to grasp the personal experience. Here are some chapter books and novels for older readers that will help them reflect and deepen their understanding.

You can click on the titles or covers below for more information, and click here for picture books on war and ANZAC Day for younger readers.

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo is told in the voice of a young soldier, and follows 24 hours in his life at the front during WW1. For readers aged 9-12 and up.

Loyal Creatures by Morris Gleitzman is an emotional, heart-wrenching Australian WWI story. A novel for high school readers, about a 16 year old Australian boy who enlists in the Australian Light Horse alongside his father, and discovers the true nature of war. For ages 9-12.

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys by Jackie French tells the story of the war from the eyes of three young girls who, desperate to do their bit – and avoid the boredom of school and the restrictions of Society – start a canteen in France, caring for the endless flow of wounded soldiers returning from the front. Ages 13+

In Evan’s Gallipoli by Kerry Greenwood, fourteen-year-old Evan travels to the Turkish battlefields in WWI with his father, taking medicines and comforts to the soldiers. Greenwood has created a very detailed, gripping account of life for those on the battlefield and those living behind the lines. This is for 12+.