S2E5 Little Library: Ships In The Field with Susanne Gervay

In this episode of Learn Play Thrive’s Little Library mini-series, host Linda Harrison sits down with Order of Australia honoree and award-winning author Susanne Gervay to explore her moving picture book, 'Ships in the Field'.

Drawing from her own family history as the child of post-war refugees, Susanne shares the inspiration behind this CBCA Notable story, which tenderly captures the journey of migration and belonging through a child's eyes. Together, they discuss how the book gently balances heavy themes of trauma with the warmth of everyday family rituals, imagination and the universal search for home.

Expanding on the book's rich pedagogical value, the conversation highlights alignment with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF V2.0), showing how early childhood educators can use this story to foster emotional literacy, cultural empathy and visual reading skills. Susanne and Linda share story-inspired play-based learning experiences—including paper-hat creative play, family ritual mapping and sensory play. Tune in to discover how this poignant tale serves as a powerful, safe vehicle for building inclusion and connection in early childhood settings.

Ships in the Field is availble for purchase here:
https://sgervay.com/bookshop/#picture-books

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast, the ultimate early learning podcast for educators and leaders in the sector. Let's learn, play, and thrive together.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

The Learn Play Thrive podcast was recorded on the lands with the Dark and Jung people. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians, past, present, and emerging. Hands up, hands down, we're on Dark and Jung land.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

A warm welcome to today's episode of Learn Play Thrive's Little Library. I'm Linda Harrison, early education content producer at Learn Play Thrive, where we are passionate about the power of picture books to ignite young imaginations and foster a lifelong love of literacy and learning in the early years. Now today we are diving into a poignant and powerful story about war, migration, and finding home, where hope brings a family together. This moving picture book explores the refugee experience through the eyes of a young child and it captures resilience, love, and courage of those who leave everything behind in search of peace. It has received a notable award in 2013 by the Children's Book Council of Australia, achieving this prestigious recognition in both the Picture Book of the Year and Early Childhood categories. And joining me today is the highly acclaimed award-winning author behind this beautiful piece of quality children's literature, Suzanne Gervais. Suzanne, it's an absolute honour to have you here in the studio. Welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Thank you, and it's an honour to be on this podcast. So we're twice honoured.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Now, before we dive into the pages of your beautiful picture book, I'd like to share a little bit about Suzanne's extraordinary background. So Suzanne Gervais is a widely celebrated Australian author whose work is driven by a passion for empowering children and adults through stories that bring hope, especially as they navigate our complex world. So as the child of refugees, Suzanne grew up with the emotional complexities of parents who had survived war, migration, and also deep loss. So her books became a source of escape and comfort and courage. And this personal journey has been the driving force behind her 20-year immersion in the children's book industry. As a writer, a mentor, a speaker, and an advocate for literacy. And Suzanne was awarded the Order of Australia for Children's Literature. And she's also received the Lifetime Literature Award for her body of works on social justice for children from the International Library Association. She is also the co-regional advisor for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators on the Australia East Coast and an active ambassador for Books in Homes and Room to Read. Suzanne, your lifelong dedication to giving a voice to young people in their communities is incredibly inspiring.

SPEAKER_03 2:55

Well, I don't know about inspiring, but it's more a addiction. And you know, writing, it's not about publication, although I always seek to be published. But it's really about making sense of the world. And the reason I make sense of the world through writing is because I experienced my parents who struggled so much to make home here. I just felt I could be brave too. And I started writing to understand why they went through war, why they escaped, what does it mean to be a family here? And I started to write, especially for young people, because I think they have big questions. They want to know, is there a God? They want to know what why did my parents come here? They want to know everything, but they haven't yet got the skills to work it out. So picture books can partner them in their journey. And I feel privileged to be that partner.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Oh, that's fantastic. I completely agree. I love how children are wanting to ask questions all the time and learn about their surroundings. So if we dive into the story's plot, I think you draw on your family's histories as post-war migrants and you bring to life the journey of a young girl who is searching for a sense of belonging in a new country. So this picture book is suitable for older preschoolers and also for early primary school students. And it does follow the story of the main character who is a young girl and her soft toy, which is a dog called Brownie, who represents comfort and loss and hope. So on the surface of this story, there are lots of joyful rituals that you'll see throughout this picture book. You know, there's pancakes that are cooked, and there's a character called Papa who is the main character's father, and he does some funny things, and there's picnics by the river. But there are, I guess, there's another layer to the story which is quite deep. And there are those quiet aches that you'll see in the characters where the main character's mother, Ma, is crying behind closed doors because she's frightened of the war and memories of an old country that was broken. And then you'll see the father working in a factory instead of the farm. So, what was the spark that led you to write this story?

SPEAKER_03 5:55

Well, it is, you know, I'm second generation from migrant families. So this story is part of my life, and I have to say, I did have a dog called you guessed it, Brownie. Uh-huh. And I know you won't believe it, he was brown. So I have huge imagination, it seems. Not, but really, I wrote this story because it lives with me. And when my parents left their dog at home in the war, in communism, they left it because they had to leave everything. Imagine leaving everything you know and love on the other side of the world. And I think that's really huge and brave. And I wanted to be brave also.

SPEAKER_02 7:02

I think, as you say, you were very brave in writing the book, and it does touch on some heavy themes about war, but it also talks about the warmth of early childhood. So I think you managed to show a little bit of trauma that this family have experienced, but it doesn't overwhelm young readers. So the main character of Ma, sorry, the mother of the main character Ma, who makes dresses all day, and Papa who's scrubbing in the laundry tub after his shift at the car factory. So you see them working, but then there's so much joy in their nightly routines. So Papa makes some paper crowns and kind of folds the paper to make the crown and then drops it into the chicken soup. So I think, would you mind reading a bit of an excerpt for our listeners so they can do your beautiful words?

SPEAKER_03 7:54

You can hear a bit, and I have to tell you, my papa did make me a crown always out of the serviettes. So I take it from my own story. Okay. Dinner dinner, Papa booms. Papa makes Brownie a pointy hat. He makes me a princess hat. He folds Mars hat into a star. His hat is a crown. We have chicken soup every night, just like in the old country. Papa slurps his soup. Papa winks and bows because he is a king. Oh no! His crown plops into the soup. Papa laughs.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Brownie and I laugh too. That scene is really magical, and I think from an early childhood perspective, it really aligns with the early years learning framework version 2.0. When we think about learning outcome one, that children have a strong sense of identity. So I think this really relates to your picture book where children can find safety and they can build resilience through those kinds of family rituals. So even when a family's world has been broken by war, these kinds of predictable and playful routines they form a bit of an emotional buffer for a young child. So even though your picture book Ships in the Field touches on those complex themes like war and migration, the story does have a relevance for all young children because it grounds those big ideas in the comforting and those familiar rhythms of everyday early childhood. So those relatable experiences like sharing the films and playing with toys and enjoying picnics in nature. You know, young children will see their reflections in their own lives and their own relationships. So even though we're seeing that journey through the eyes of a child, the picture book acts as a gentle safe vehicle for building emotional literacy. So early childhood educators, when they're reading the story, they can actually help children to foster empathy for others. And they're helping children understand what the universal ingredients are that does make a place feel like home so that they can have a sense of belonging.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

And you know, all these stories, I'm gonna give you a big secret. They're the stories of my life, obviously, and I have to tell you a secret. My papa slurped his soup, and my mother got so angry, don't slurp your soup, and you know what he did? He winked and he did another slurp. And then when one day he forgot to slurp his soup, Ma says, Where is the slurp? And we all laughed and laughed.

SPEAKER_02 11:25

It was too silly, but and I think we just laughs and giggles. That reminds me of in your picture book as well. Then there's a beautiful moment when Papa is driving and he points out of the window and he says, Look at the ships in the field. And then so the main character, the little girl, she kind of laughs and corrects him and he says, Papa, you mean sheep? But we see a bit of the emotional weight in the illustrations here too, because the the soft toy dog looks a little bit sad, and you know, the little girl hates it when other people laugh at the way that her dad talks, and she doesn't like it too. So this part of the story is a great tool for building empathy. So, can you talk about how the language and Anna's stunning watercolour illustrations are working together here?

SPEAKER_03 13:58

Well, firstly, Anna said that she really struggled with this book because she said, How am I supposed to do a ships in the field? Because they are ships, they're not sheep, and so she struggled with it, but it challenged her and she loved doing it. Similarly, in the double page spread, when she does war and that you have to go on big ships, she was really uh struggling with it, but in the end, she made the ship really huge because kids see it as 10 times the size that we see it, yeah. And what she did, she put a flying dog across the page into the ship. You have a look and you'll see the flying dog because even though they have to leave their dog, at the same time they take the spirit of the dog, and that element of hope is when they find a dog in Australia, and it's renewal, it's all about finding hope in the new world where you rebuild life. But you I just want to say one thing, you know, when that little girl says, Papa, it's not ships, it's sheep in the field, and you know, he says, Yes, I see the ships in the field, and the little girl sings with all her heart, black ships, have we any war? And sh that shows bravery, she will not take it that someone says something bad about her daddy. She is brave.

SPEAKER_02 16:16

Absolutely, and I think when she does that, it and when we're reading that as educators or as parents to young children, it opens up a bit of a doorway for us to talk about inclusion and linguistic diversity. You know, people don't always say words the same way, and we're welcoming families from different backgrounds into our places. So I love how she kind of reworks that nursery rhyme and includes the word ships. Yeah, I think that's great. And I think that mispronunciation, it highlights that we can, I guess, help children to uh deal with language barriers and kind of look at them the look at the way we speak differently with warmth and humor rather than shame.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

Well, it was, you know, for my parents, it was shameful that they couldn't speak in the right way, whatever the right way is. I didn't know my parents had an accent. I didn't know my father spoke Hungarian English. One day at school, a girl had an argument with me, and she said, and you know what? Your dad isn't Australian, and I ran home as fast as I could, and I waited for my father. He opened the door, he opened his big hands, and he said to me, Hello, Susie. And I knew he was a Hungarian. Yes, and I cried and cried because I didn't know until someone told me.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yes, yeah, you just it's just part of your everyday life, and you don't think otherwise, do you? No, I didn't know. But anyway, I got used to it and I still loved him. Yes. Now, when you were talking about how the family did find a real dog, and that was kind of a turning point for them settling into Australia, I think that's a beautiful part within the picture book because they do find a puppy and it does become that powerful symbol of healing and new beginnings. And I noticed the character Ma, you know, she rarely smiles or kisses, you know, she due to her sadness, but she lets out a tiny smile in the illustrations when they do find the puppy. So it is a moment of healing and new beginnings. So, how does that really uh shift the family dynamic when they find that puppy in the story?

SPEAKER_03 19:04

Well, it does, and of course, you know his name, Brownie. Of course, everything's brownie. It does shift the dynamics because the mother is struggling in this country. She, you know, they would Australia was full of hope and promise for them, but they had to, you know, work in the car factory, they didn't speak English. I mean, my mother was bilingual in German and Hungarian and spoke French, but it was hard for them. And my mother came from a different world. Her father was a professor of engineering, and she lived that more middle class life in Budapest. My father was different, he came from a farm and was really poor. And they came here, and my father took on the challenge, and my mother did too, but it took a long time for her to smile, to engage, to know Australia was home.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

Yes. Oh, it's such a moving story, but it's such a rich story that I think is important to share with young children. So, for early childhood educators listening today, once you've read this story with children a few times, there are some really lovely play-based learning ideas that you can then implement to further help children explore the themes and ideas within ships in the field. So, Suzanne, the first one we're going to talk about is a paper hat storytelling idea. So, would you like to talk about that one?

SPEAKER_03 21:03

Well, firstly, as the recipient of a paper hat at every dinner, I think it's enormous fun to make your own paper hat. And really, they not only have fun with that, but imagine if they all sing bar bar black ships, they will laugh. They will laugh and they will also bring up their own families, misspeaking the wrong words, you know, because it's funny and they have to laugh at it, not find it offensive because they can teach, they can say that means that, you know.

SPEAKER_02 21:56

And I know children love making up their own nursery rhymes and silly words for their early literacy, so you can just imagine them making up their own nursery rhymes with silly words, and I think having a practical aspect with a picture book really cements it into their mind because you can talk about it.

SPEAKER_03 22:20

Why why do you think he makes the paper hat? And they might say, Well, the mother has a star. Is she a star? And the little girl says, But Papa, you're a king. Is far is Papa a king if he wears a hat?

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Yes. You know, and I can imagine children will be quite creative when they've got that kind of open-ended bit of paper, whether it be newspaper or coloured paper, and they can fold it in different ways and make their own hat and then kind of use that in their pretend play to become different characters.

SPEAKER_03 23:00

And that more importantly, they can take it home. Yes. And walk around with it.

SPEAKER_02 23:09

Now, our second story-inspired play idea today is based around the day of the week, Sunday, because in your picture book, this is a family special day for pancakes and picnics. So, what I'd encourage educators to do is that you could create together with young children a collaborative floor display. So that's where children could draw or they could share a photograph of a special ritual that they do with their own families. And that might be making a favorite weekend breakfast or singing of their favourite. Bedtime song or visiting their park. And yeah, so children can be drawing that, creating that, talking about their favorite things that they do with their families. And it links really well again to the early years learning framework, helping children feel safe and proud of their family culture and histories. And educators could also make that into a book and scribe children's stories. And our third story-inspired play idea is based on the part of the picture book where Papa drives his family to the forest because he grew up on the farm and he loves trees and rivers and finding comfort in nature. So the idea around here is to set up a sensory small world play environment. So you could use a water tray to represent the river, and then you could use some eucalyptus leaves and bark and some small branches or even some small stones, and even add some toy animals or a felt dog to represent that character in the story. And children can then reenact the ships in the field story through that hands-on sensory play. And they can use the natural materials and explore the book's themes around peace and being in nature with family. I love it. Yeah, I think children will really enjoy that and it opens up lots of conversation about the picture book. So I think to finish up today, Ships in the Field is an exquisite, honest, moving, and deeply personal, yet a universally relevant picture book. So it offers a gentle yet profound exploration of war, migration, and the true meaning of home. And it belongs, I think, in every early childhood library. So, Suzanne, thank you so much for sharing your heart, your history, and your wisdom with us today. And thank you so much for loving my book because I love it too. Oh, thank you. And to all of our listeners, we would love to see how you bring this beautiful story to life in your early learning environments. So please share your play spaces and your story reflections with us on social media using hashtag LPT Little Library. Until next time, keep reading, playing, and thriving.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Thank you for joining us on this episode of LearnPlaythrive the podcast. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to fuel your journey in early childhood education. Remember the key to fostering learning, promoting play, and empowering young minds lies with your dedication and creativity. Stay connected between episodes by following us on Instagram at LearnPlaythrive underscore and join the conversation on Facebook at LearnPlaythrive Australia. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, rate or review our podcast on your favourite platform. Your feedback helps us to continue to deliver content that resonates with you. And don't forget to visit us at our website at learnplaythrive.com.au for additional resources, blog posts, and professional development opportunities. Until next time, keep learning, keep playing, and keep thriving. We'll see you in the next episode of LearnPlaythrive the podcast.