Anzac Ted by Belinda Landsberry
Anzac Ted with its beautiful pictures and rhyming story line hooks you in from the first page. Who would not love a Teddy? I asked. When I first read this story it brought tears to my eyes, Anzac Ted is a forgotten hero, ignored and misread by those who don’t know who he really is, but loved and cherished by those who do, those who know his story and what he stood for. The children who didn’t vote Anzac Ted as being cute and cuddly or didn’t want him as part of their play made me realise how oblivious we can become to things that don’t look pretty or cute, and how we don’t stay around long enough to hear stories behind the stains, the scraps and the missing ears!
The tears were for the forgotten heroes that Anzac Ted made me remember, how even grown men in the middle of war still need a hero, a thing that reminds them of home and what they left behind, and Anzac Ted did that for them. He was their hero that reminder of home and he saw things that we can not even comprehend. The tears were for the people who we have forgotten, a reminder that generations need these stories – or ‘Lest we forget’. A beautiful story that children will love and hopefully ask more of the why questions and a story that to adults can be a gentle reminder that we all have our special heroes that need remembering. A lovely edition to the book collection. Happy reading.
Carmen Tarrant, Inglewood Playcentre