This text is an old favourite simply because it is so beautiful and thought provoking.

The Rabbits is terrific for exploring point of view. The story is told by a narrator and we are invited to adopt his point of view and align ourselves with the bilbies.

Students need to come to an understanding that our alignment with the bilbies is crafted by the author. The story is not necessarily a true tale, but is orchestrated for a purpose. It is also not necessarily the point of view of Marsden or Tan either.

This understanding can be explored as students discuss evidence from the text that supports the narrator's point of view.

Further activities to deepen this understanding could involve rewriting the text from the point of view of the rabbits or comparing the text with another text such as 'Grim Crims and Convicts' by Jackie French which looks at that time in our history through the eyes of the convicts.

At this age, students are beginning to recognise that books aren't necessarily true stories. There's a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake is wonderful for this type of understanding!

Read and discuss the text with the class and ask them about the character of the hippopotamus. Discuss whether they might have ever thought it would be good to be able to do what they wanted and not be contained by guidelines from parents and carers.
Ask the students, 'Who is telling the story?' Discuss with the students whether the mother believes that the hippopotamus is real. How would the story be told if told by the mother?

Once lessons are focused on these concepts or ideas, the main task of teachers in those lessons is one of developing the students’ deep understanding of the selected knowledge, understandings, skills and values and of the connections among them.'

QTF discussion paper p.10, 2003

In Early Stage 1, students are being introduced to the idea of point of view. They need to understand that stories can be told through the eyes of a narrator or character.

Diary of a Wombat is a great text for this as students understand quickly that the point of view of the wombat is very different to the point of view of his owners.

Students can discuss how this story would be told differently, if it was told by the family members instead of the wombat.

Too Many Pears by Jackie French is another great text along the same lines.

A beautifully written book about children who move from London to their uncle's estate in the country during the WWII blitz. The characters are fully formed and finely crafted. Each of them have their own ideas about what the war means.

The story is interlaced with a tale from history of Richard III and the two lost princes. The two stories develop side by side as each of the characters evolve.

In terms of teaching point of view, students need to explore how each of the characters has a different view of the war and what it means to them. They discuss which character they feel they align with and which character Sonya Hartnett would like the reader to align with. Students find evidence of their opinions from the text and discuss their ideas with the class.

As the students think more deeply about the story, ask them to consider why Hartnett has created this story with so many points of view. What do students think was the purpose of this? Why tell the story from Cecily's point of view?

The urge to move into a discussion about the rights and wrongs of war is extremely enticing - but try to focus on the English!

I particularly love books that are compelling and capture the human experience and this one is a perfect example of just that. It would be very easy to focus on the themes of identity, bullying or friendship but the English focus in this novel would be point of view and perspective.

 The author has used  first-person narration to position the reader. The point of view shifts as different characters tell their versions of the story in first person. We are offered the perspectives of different people who all have a story to tell.

Throughout the story, the author has used different forms to frame first-person narration. Letters, text messages between characters. Why has the author used these different forms? What impact do these forms have on our interpretations of the characters and events?

• How are we positioned throughout the story especially when our focus shifts between different characters?  How are we drawn to Auggie throughout the entire story?
• What if the story was told in third-person narration? How would that have changed our connections to the character?
• How can we use first-person narration to position our readers?
• How can first-person narration be used as a powerful tool to persuade our readers and encourage a relationship between character and reader?

A fractured fairy tale from the wolf's point of view. The author has used first person narration to align the reader with the wolf.