Digger The Dog Who Went To War by Mark Wilson

I know. I know.
Another WW1 picture book.
But I'm a sucker for historical fiction in any guise and I will always get emotional with animal stories.

Digger was no different.

A tale of a young lad and his puppy growing up on a farm in Victoria. The young lad gets caught up in the excitement of war and runs off to join up.

As he is about to sail out to Egypt, his sister brings him his puppy, which he conceals in his jacket and smuggles on board.

As it turns out, Digger is not the only smuggled animal on board ship. Digger is not the only animal to suffer through the hardships of war. And Digger is not the only animal that performs great deeds in the name of loyalty and love.

Wilson uses his usual storytelling format of text, letters and signs inside his evocative, detailed illustrations.

This WW1-overloaded softie managed to tear up at the end of this story.
I suspect you will to!