HAVE YOU EVER kept a diary? One of those lockable ones you hide in a secret place, so no one in your family can ever find it?
The best thing about writing in a dairy, for me, was that it was never a test. No one was going to mark my spelling or grammar, and I could finish the stories when I liked - or not. Best of all, I could write about my most private thoughts, without risk of being exposed to the world.
It was precisely this type of writing that made Anne Frank one of the most famous child authors in the world.
Anne was just four when she and her Jewish family ran away from Nazi Germany in the 1930s to go and live in the Netherlands. At the age of 11, Anne had to go into hiding in a secret attic for two years when the Germans occupied Holland. It was during this time that she wrote The Diary Of Anne Frank.
Anne's diary became one of the most widely read books in the world. Thirteen million copies have been published in more than 50 languages, so people around the world can read her story.
Like Anne, 11-year-old Zlata Filipovic from Sarajevo kept a wartime diary. At first, her entries were simply about school and birthday parties, but when the Serbians invaded her country, her writing turned to stories of bombings and death.
Her book was published in 1995 and is simply titled Zlata's Diary. It is a testament to the futility of war, and a poignant read in these unsettling times.
