“Lest we forget”

A young boy recounts the story of his teddy bear.

Jane Fagan | May 2 2016 | comment

Anzac Tedby Belinda Landsberry
written for ages 7-10 | highly recommended
published in 2016 | EK Books | 32 pages

A young boy recounts the story of a toy bear that belonged to his grandfather and travelled overseas to war with the soldiers many years ago.

Before he departed for war, the young boy's grandmother had packed the toy bear in his grandad's suitcase "for luck." The soft toy gave comfort to the soldiers in first aid tents and shelters and became their mascot.

When he came home with Grandad as a young soldier, the bear was no longer pretty. So the boy knows the story of "Anzac Bear" and how he got his battle scars; his torn, dirty fur, his missing ear, his wobbly head and slow legs were all a result of "encounters with the foe".

And now when the boy takes Anzac Bear to show and tell all the children cry and some adults "roll their eyes". Anzac Ted doesn't win in the Toy Show Vote at school and gets not a single vote. Rather, the class ridicules Anzac Ted. "No-one knows my Anzac woes or just how brave he is."

I couldn't have said it any better. This sums up perfectly the way the Anzac Legend is treated in Australia today! Children are increasingly taught politically correct versions of the Anzac Legend, incorporating pacifist and incorrect views of what actually happened - versions that forget to mention to children that the Anzacs were fighting a very real enemy in Gallipoli when Turkey, including Ataturk, was highly linked and allied with Germany and all that Hitler stood for.

This book will give another view increasingly sparse but ever so important to remind children of the real heroes of Anzac.

A page of factual information is included at the end of the story mentioning that Anzac Day now includes all Australian and New Zealanders who have fought right across the many different wars, conflicts and peace-keeping efforts. We are reminded of the precious New Zealand connection and the characteristics of mateship, bravery, tenacity, audacity and endurance shared by both countries.

Read online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko1RtELN9AI

“Lest we forget…” this book is recommended for your children this Anzac Day, 2016.

A former children's librarian, Jane Fagan is currently a full-time mother of two

- See more at: http://www.mercatornet.com/bookreviews/view/lest-we-forget/17988#sthash.XU1HnkXH.dpuf

Here's a prediction for you: commercial surrogacy will become one of the biggest ethical issues affecting the family within the next 20 years. It's inevitable after the legalization of same-sex marriages in many countries. Even if two "married" men want a baby, they cannot produce one. So they will have to hire a woman to gestate the child. And since the woman is disposable, the "married" couple will probably hire one in an impoverished country with few legal safeguards. This is already happening in countries like Guatemala, Ukraine, Cambodia and Cyprus. In India and Thailand, booming surrogate industries have been closed down because there were too many scandals involving foreign clients.

In today's newsletter New Zealand lawyer Rachael Wong argues that Australia should not give in to pressure to legalise surrogacy. It's a fascinating read. She concludes:

Australian law should have at its heart respect for the dignity of every human being. It should not be an instrument for legally exploiting women and children. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe recently rejected the legalisation of surrogacy on these grounds. Australia should follow suit.