{"id":82798,"date":"2018-08-30T16:14:42","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T05:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=82798"},"modified":"2018-08-30T16:15:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T05:15:36","slug":"mark-greenwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/08\/30\/mark-greenwood\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Greenwood on writing The Happiness Box"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"mark<\/a>Writing The Happiness Box<\/strong>
\nby Mark Greenwood<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are the secrets to happiness?<\/p>\n

I expect the answers are different for everyone. But would your \u2018secrets\u2019 change if life was suddenly turned upside down and you found yourself in extreme circumstances?<\/p>\n

In 1942, after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese forces, Australian soldier Sergeant David \u201cGriff\u201d Griffin became a prisoner of war in a military compound outside Changi Prison, where women and children were interned. With Christmas approaching, it was suggested that POWs make presents to boost the morale of Changi\u2019s young prisoners.<\/p>\n

Sergeant Griffin wasn\u2019t good at making wooden toys so he decided to write a book, to chase away fear and give the children hope. The Happiness Box<\/em> was the tale of three jungle friends – a gecko, a monkey and a frog – who discover the secrets to happiness. The book was typed, illustrated and bound by fellow prisoners in less than 48 hours.<\/p>\n

But the enemy was suspicious. They suspected one of the characters, named \u2018Winston\u2019, was a code for Winston Churchill. Before the book was destroyed, Sergeant Griffin\u2019s mates managed to secret it away and bury it in an ammunition container within the grounds of the prison. After the war, the book was recovered, returned to the author and later published.<\/p>\n

Between 2005 and 2007 The Happiness Box<\/em> toured Australia along with Sir Don Bradman\u2019s cricket bat and Ned Kelly\u2019s helmet as part of the \u2018National Treasures from Australia\u2019s Great Libraries\u2019 exhibition.<\/p>\n

\"mark<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m interested in blending history and story to create picture books with resonance – a quality captured by the words and art that evokes images, memories and emotions. Resonance is the beating heart of a story. It\u2019s what is lurking deep beneath the surface. It\u2019s what makes The Happiness Box<\/em> meaningful and important\u2026and personal.<\/p>\n

When I was ten, I couldn\u2019t wait for the weekend when I could spend time with my step-grandfather. After working around the farm, looking after horses and the sheep, Eric and I would sit together as mates, watching war movies and westerns. At some point in the afternoon, Eric would start drinking.<\/p>\n

My nana said Eric had nightmares and was not always as gentle and kind as he was with me. Once she showed me a photograph of him taken after the war. He was not the big, burley bloke I knew. The man in the photo was a living skeleton. I asked Eric what happened, but he never spoke about it. I was a boy back then. I knew nothing of the horrors of Changi and what happened to Eric and many like him who slaved on the Burma-Thai Railway.<\/p>\n

I first saw the original Happiness Box book in a touring exhibition of National Treasures. It showed me that books and reading, knowledge and education can also be a secret to happiness. And lurking deep beneath the surface of the original book was something deeply meaningful and important to me. It evoked images, memories and emotions. It had resonance. The original Happiness Box book was said to contain the secrets to happiness, such as friendship, kindness, generosity, loyalty, courage and hard work. Thinking back, these are the secrets that Eric taught me.<\/p>\n

\n

About the Author
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Mark Greenwood, who has a passion for history and legends, is the author of many books for children, published both in the United States and in his native Australia.<\/p>\n

His recent book, The Drummer Boy of John John<\/em>, was honoured by Kirkus Reviews (\u201cBest of 2012\u201d) and the Bank Street College of Education Children\u2019s Book Committee. The Donkey of Gallipoli<\/em>, illustrated by his wife, Fran\u00e9 Lessac, was a CBC Honour Book and a USBBY Outstanding International Book.<\/p>\n

His work has twice received the West Australian Premier\u2019s Book Award. Jandamarra<\/em>, illustrated by Terry Denton, was short-listed for the 2014 Children\u2019s Book Council Awards. Mark\u2019s latest books include The Mayflower<\/em>, published by Holiday House, and Midnight<\/em>, published by Walker Books Australia and New Zealand and Candlewick Press in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing The Happiness Box by Mark Greenwood What are the secrets to happiness? I expect the answers are different for everyone. But would your \u2018secrets\u2019 change if life was suddenly turned upside down and you found yourself in extreme circumstances? In 1942, after the fall of Singapore to the Japanese forces, Australian soldier Sergeant David \u201cGriff\u201d Griffin became a prisoner of war in a military compound outside Changi Prison, where women and children were interned. With Christmas approaching, it was suggested that POWs make presents to boost the morale of Changi\u2019s young prisoners. Sergeant Griffin wasn\u2019t good at making wooden toys so he decided to write a book, to chase away fear and give the children hope. The Happiness Box was the tale of three jungle friends – a gecko, a monkey and a frog – who discover the secrets to happiness. The book was typed, illustrated and bound by fellow prisoners in less than 48 hours. But the enemy was suspicious. They suspected one of the characters, named \u2018Winston\u2019, was a code for Winston Churchill. Before the book was destroyed, Sergeant Griffin\u2019s mates managed to secret it away and bury it in an ammunition container within the grounds of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":82801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7003,7036,9151,7704,9152],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Social-happiness.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82798"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82807,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82798\/revisions\/82807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}