This picture book for the very young is a simple, moving look at Anzac Day through the eyes of a little girl. She goes to the pre-dawn Anzac Day service with her father where they watch the girl s grandfather march in the parade. This beautifully illustrated book explains what happens on Anzac Day and its significance in terms a young child can understand It is an excellent introduction to this highly venerated ceremony, and poignantly addresses the sentiments aroused by the memory of those who gave their lives for their country.

Rachel is in the kitchen, warm and safe. Her father is in the trenches, cold and afraid. When Rachel makes biscuits for her father, she adds the love, warmth and hope that he needs. This is a touching story of a family torn apart by war but brought together through the powerful simplicity of Anzac Biscuits.

Inspired by the story of two soldiers who planted two trees on their farm before they headed to the Great War, the story of the ANZAC Tree is one that looks at the lives of those left behind in times of war.

An old toy rabbit finds himself in a box of toys being donated to charity. "But it wasn’t always this way," Tock sadly reflects, "Once I was loved." We rewind the clock to 1939 when a girl named Sam receives a toy rabbit for her 5th birthday. From that moment, Sam and Tock are inseparable. They’re together when Sam hugs her father goodbye as he marches off to war. They’re together when they visit polio patients at the hospital, but sadly part when Sam gives Tock to Flynn, a gravely ill boy in an iron lung. Flynn slowly recovers, but Tock is dropped from his hospital window as he watches the celebrations marking the end of the war. Tock is found by Max, and together they are swept up in the newest music craze of the 1950s: rock ’n’ roll. Max grows up and hands his beloved toy rabbit on to his son, Toby, and in 1969, Toby and Tock watch the first Moon landing. In 1974, Tock is found in a park by Pip, a ‘flower child’ from the Hippie movement. And so Tock’s adventures continue through to the present day, when an old lady is sorting toys donated to charity. Her name badge reads ‘Sam’ — after nearly 90 years, Sam is finally reunited with her beloved Tock. A celebration of the timeless nature of love and set against the backdrop of iconic moments in 20th-century history, the heart-warming picture book Once I Was Loved will resonate with anyone who has ever cherished a childhood toy.

More than 20 years after publication of the classic NZ story, The Bantam and the Soldier, Jennifer Beck and Robyn Belton have joined forces again to produce another heartwarming story from the First World War. This time its the true story of Otagos Alexander Aitken and the violin that travelled with him on his wartime journey, bringing music and solace to his fellow ANZACs.