Journal notes

Anzac Heroes, winner of the 2016 Supreme Book of the Year Award, had been very successful, it made sense to write a book on the animals that went to war, next. I first started reading the delightful picture books that had been written about war animals such as ‘Torty and the Soldier’, ‘Caesar the Anzac Dog’ and junior non-fiction titles ‘Brave Bess and the ANZAC horses’, as well as Anthony Hill’s books. For most of the animals, though, I had to research museum files, and write letters to people as far away as Dublin, America as well as Australia to hear their grandfathers’ stories of the animals they had befriended during the war. Thankfully, Creative New Zealand gave me a grant that enabled me to travel to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and Wellington’s Alexander Turnbull Library. This enabled me to finish off all the loose ends, to cross check the facts, and find extra details that would enhance the stories.
On my mind the whole time, was Publishing Manager Lynnette Evans’ words, ‘Don’t make the stories too sad.’ I tried to pick a range of funny, heart-warming and yes, there are some sad stories.
The stories are not written to glorify war, they’re written to show the bravery and loyalty of the animals – their stories deserve to be told as well!