A01=Alan Pollock
A12=Bryony Thomson
Age Group_Ages 5-7
Age Group_Ages 5-7
Animals at war
Author_Alan Pollock
Author_Bryony Thomson
automatic-update
Battle of Monte Cassino
bear
bears
Category1=Kids
Category=YFY
COP=United Kingdom
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
displacement
emigration
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_teenage-young-adult
family
Language_English
loyalty
PA=Available
Price_€10 to €20
PS=Active
refugee
softlaunch
war
Product details
- ISBN 9781910646526
- Dimensions: 280 x 240mm
- Publication Date: 18 Jul 2019
- Publisher: Old Barn Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
- Age Group: Ages 5-7
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In the dark days of war, a group of soldiers far from home come across an orphaned bear cub. They adopt him and hide him in their tents, feeding him with their rations - until he is too big to ignore! When they are told he cannot travel with them, they grant him an officer's commission. Private Wojtek finds himself helping to carry armaments at the fierce Battle of Monte Cassino. After the war, unable to return to their homeland, the band of soldiers arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland. Peter, Wojtek's substitute parent, has no idea where his own family, forced out of their home, can be. There is a happy ending, however, as Peter is reunited with his family in Scotland - and Wojtek finds a new home in Edinburgh zoo. A statue of Wojtek stands in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh in memory of the brave bear and his fellow soldiers.
Alan Pollock is a playwright, best known for One Night in November, about the Coventry blitz. He came across the story of Wojtek while researching amongst Polish refugees in Coventry. The youth of the soldiers involved in the Battle of Monte Cassino moved him to write for children for the first time. Bryony Thomson's self-authored debut picture book, The Wardrobe Monster, was published by Old Barn Books in 2018. She explores a totally different illustration style for this story.
