Friendship, Foes and Feathers: June, Anne and the Great War

Friendship, Foes and Feathers: June, Anne and the Great War is the first of a series of seven books entitled The Friendship Series. 


Each title will explore the lives of young friends from two families living in Central Auckland, New Zealand, against the backdrop of historic events and changing social landscapes. 


Although the focus is on a particular place, the themes are universal, dealing with childhood, friendship and the effects of war, natural disaster and economic and social change on communities through the 20th century.


The Reading Circle section of Friendship, Foes and Feathers: June, Anne and the Great War is designed to be a guide for teachers, suggesting ways the texts can be used in English or History classes, as well as structured activities in independent, small-group reciprocal reading sessions. There will be individual readers, too, who will find the activities enjoyable and challenging. 


The Word Sleuth cards allow the readers to explore different strategies that can be used to clarify new words and build them into a working vocabulary. Words can be fascinating all by themselves! The Reading Circle questions are designed to get the readers making inferences informed by evidence from the text, to form connections with their own experiences, to visualise and analyse the use of figurative language, and to look into the language choices made by the author to show character, setting and theme. It is hoped that this will generate lots of discussion and questioning.