Entertainment

Celebrate Universal Children's Day on 20th November by watching "[t]his visually stunning film [which] follows four babies during their first year on earth - from first breath to first steps. Across borders and cultures, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo, Babies re-defines the nonfiction art form and joyfully captures the earliest stages of the human journey that are both unique and universal to us all. Babies is a visual and sensorial experience that will reveal the most basic human emotions".

Continue your Universal Children's Day celebrations with this documentary about family. It follows "[s]ix lesbian-headed families [from the early 1980s as they] make decisions about how to become pregnant, navigate the process of adoption, whether to involve men in parenting, and address reactions from relatives, doctors and schoolmates. In so doing, they helped redefine what "family" means and opened the door for everyone to consider parenting, regardless of sexual orientation".

Learn about Australia's war history for Remembrance Day with this documentary about Jandamarra, "a Bunuba man, who led one of the most effective rebellions in the history of indigenous peoples' resistance to European colonisation. Following banishment from Bunuba society for breaking kinship rules, Jandamarra's attempts to assimilate into settler culture fail - he cannot accept the cruel and barbarous treatment of his people... His legend earns him both the admiration of his own people, and international notoriety".

Watch a film this Remembrance Day. A dramatisation of the Australian experience of fighting in the Second World War in Papua New Guinea, Kokoda is about "a small force of ill-equipped and untrained militia" defending Port Morseby from Japanese invasion. "[C]ut off from their supply lines and all communications... [i]solated in the jungle, behind enemy lines, [and] suffering the effects of dysentery and malaria... they must make their way back through the most perilous terrain on earth... the Kokoda track".

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). To celebrate why not learn about "[t]he written word [which] is so central to our lives that it can seem as if it has always existed. Yet writing is a relatively recent invention. Trace the remarkable saga of "visible speech" from its earliest origins to its future in the digital age. In this thrilling [documentary] journey, you'll explore how an array of sophisticated writing systems developed, then were adopted and adapted by surrounding cultures".

In the spirit of NaNoWriMo, watch this film about " the romantic English poet" John Keats. "Set in London in 1818, Bright Star is the tender story of first love between... Keats... and the stylish, headstrong Fanny Brawne. Inspired by the actual love letters between the couple[,] and Keats' sublime poetry, Bright Star reveals one of the world's great, untold love stories in this exquisitely beautiful and deeply moving film. Masterfully written and directed... [by] Jane Campion, it stars Australian actress Abbie Cornish... in an extraordinary performance that evokes the giddy intoxication of romance, alongside... Ben Whishaw.

Celebrate Universal Children's Day with this audiobook version of a much loved classic about growing up in the mid-1880s. "[T]he March family li[v]e in a small New England community... Jo at fifteen... is unconventional... with an ambition to be an author. Meg... is pretty and wishes to be a lady. Beth is a delicate child of thirteen with a taste for music. Amy is a blonde beauty of twelve. The story explores their domestic adventures... their friendship with the neighboring Laurence family, and their later love affairs and destinies as women".

What better way to celebrate Universal Children's Day than planning (or just fantasizing about) a family-friendly holiday? This magazine will help you find travel options that will suit the whole family.

"This is the true story of three brothers, Charles, Fred and James Carthew, as told through the letters they wrote from Gallipoli, North Africa, Palestine and the Western Front, to their mother and sisters back home in Victoria. The Carthew brothers participated in some of history's most legendary battles, but theirs is more than a story of guns and bullets - it is also a love story; for their womenfolk and their country; of the affection and loyalty between a young officer and his men. Above all, it's a tribute to the steadfast mateship of over 300,000 young Anzacs who fought, and sometimes died for each other, in the Great War of 1914-1918".

Read about the impacts of wars currently happening around the world as well as other local and global issues in the Australian Quarterly.

"Chris Baty, founder of the wildly successful literary marathon known as National Novel Writing Month, has completely revised and expanded his definitive handbook for extreme noveling. Chris pulls from over 15 years of results-oriented writing experience to pack this compendium with new tips and tricks, ranging from week-by-week quick reference guides to encouraging advice from authors... His motivating mix of fearless optimism and practical solutions to common excuses gives both first-time novelists and results-oriented writers the kick-start they need to embark on an exhilarating creative adventure".

In this novel, the monument honouring "Nevin Nollop, inventor of the pangram "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over the Lazy Dog" at his hometown features the famous phrase. One day the letter Z falls off. Some people "interpret the missing tile as a message from beyond the grave [and] the letter Z is banned from use... [T]he residents pride them-selves on their love of language, [and] this is seen as a tragedy. They are still reeling from the shock when another tile falls. And then another... Ella Minnow Pea, a young woman [is] forced to create another clever turn of phrase in order to save the[ir] beloved language".