The NSW RFS Library has a collection of Australian children's literature, including juvenile fiction and picture books. These books focus on bushfires for younger readers. Members, schools and brigades are invited to borrow the books to assist in engaging children in thinking about bushfires.
These activity sheets accompany many of the children's bush fire books. They have been compiled by the NSW RFS Library and our Community Engagement unit. Teacher's notes from book publishers are also available.
"We used Bertie and the Great Jellyland Bushfire yesterday with a group of about 150 kids between 0 and 8 most really like the story and when we got to the activity we had them make a paper plane (we used yellow paper to match Bertie) they got into the swing and had a great time." District Officer Graham Brown, Liverpool Range Zone, September 2015.
"We have a collaborative infants’ class of Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2. We began the session with a discussion predicting the possible content of the text. The children were very insightful and accurate in their predictions. We then read the narrative, pausing to talk about the feelings of the characters in response to the changing environment. The illustrations were excellent in generating discussions between peers and as a whole class. During the session, we focused on the safety aspect, asking the children to share what they would do in particular bushfire scenarios. They were then asked to design posters about bushfire safety. The results were beautiful. One grandmother remarked to us that she was very impressed her grandson knew so much about bushfire safety! The text was very relevant as on that day, there was haze in the air from bushfires in the area.” Sally Hagley, Teacher, St Joseph's Primary School, Merriwa, April 2016.