Hours to Remember

Hours to Remember presents the first 40 years of The Children's Hour in a pageant of extracts whose interest and charm are heightened by the linking narrative of Heather Bonnin. Articles, stories, editorials, letters, games, competitions and poems create a lively picture of past South Australian times. They reflect the social and educational emphases of a former age - respect, discipline, obedience, Christian values, devout loyalty to Great Britain, growing price in the achievements of Australia's own early heroes.

For generations of young South Australians the monthly publication The Children's Hour was a regular source of information and diversion as well as an enduring influence. The Hour was published by the Education Department of South Australia for the schoolchildren of this State from 1889 to 1963, when competition from other avenues of communication brought it to an inevitable end.

As The Children's Hour developed, the heavy reliance of the first issues on material from English journals gave way to the more independent attitudes of a proud local publication with a series of respected editors drawing on a range of distinguished contributors. The letters of the children themselves underline the importance of the Hour as a means of communication and instruction - particularly for readers in remote parts of the State.

These carefully chosen excerpts from pages that were once familiar to nearly all young South Australians offer much to today's South Australians of all ages. The narrative, the richly varied quotation, and more than 100 photographs and illustrations from the original publications invite the reader to share the joy and inspiration that The Children's Hour brought to so many children as part of our cultural and educational heritage.