12th June Anne Frank (1929 -1945)

Jewish girl Anne Frank who became famous because of her wartime diary was born on this day in 1929. There are some very good websites which will give young children substantial information about her here and here, but if you want to know what the children are reading here are two books:

• Anne Frank by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett is a picture book version of her story. It includes her life as a child and her escape to Holland. The illustrations are understandably dark and I think this is a book best shared with an adult.

• The Story of Anne Frank by Brenda Ralph Lewis is a biography for young children which includes photos.

Neither of these though are substitutes for reading the real diary when they are older.

6th January Epiphany Joan of Arc (1412 - 1431) Carl Sandburg (1878 - 1967)

Fog

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbour and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg was an American writer who was best known for his poetry. There would be very few poetry anthologies for children which do not have Fog or some other poem of his. Fog is perfect for learning and reciting. It is also good for teaching children about the power of imagery.

It is Epiphany, the twelfth day of Christmas, the time when the Three Wise Men came to visit baby Jesus in his manger, time to take down the Christmas decorations and time to think about going back to school. I wrote about Epiphany yesterday.

Joan of Arc, known as St Joan because she is a Catholic saint was a French heroine of the Hundred Years' War. Born a peasant, she led the French army to several victories before being captured, tried by the English and left to burn on a stake when she was only nineteen years old. Joan of Arc's story has been told in picture book format several times. See:

• Joan of Arc by Josephine Poole and Angela Barrett

• Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley

• Joan of Arc: Heroine of France by Ann Tomert and Michael Garland, and

• Joan of Arc by Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman (this has a longer text, but very dynamic illustrations)