WW1 picture book author bringing stories alive on Armistice Day

The small rural town of Tapawera was once the site of the Regional Military Training Camp that saw men from Nelson, Marlborough, Golden Bay and the West Coast train for service in the Territorial Force before heading off to serve in the First World War. This November, from Friday the 9th to Sunday the 11th, Tapawera is hosting a special weekend event commemorating the centenary of the 1918 signing of the Armistice treaty that heralded the end of World War 1. We are celebrating the men and women who served in the war, and those who supported them at home.

Jennifer Beck is the author of several children's picture books about the War, including the "Anzac Violin", "The Bantam and the Soldier" and "Torty and the Soldier". Robyn Belton worked with Jennifer to illustrate "The Anzac Violin" and "The Bantam and the Soldier". We have invited Jennifer and Robyn to attend our Armistice Day celebration, reading from these books in the Children's tent. Jennifer has indicated she would be happy to speak to prospective authors about writing stories about the war.

Robyn Belton will bring her superb display boards of the artwork, photographs  and research she has done for the Bantam and Anzac Violin books, which give a wonderful pictorial background to WW1.  Copies of these books would be available for sale.

Jennifer's story "Torty and the Soldier" tells the true story of New Zealand's oldest living WW1 veteran, a tortoise who was injured by being run over by a tank and bought home by a young Kiwi soldier. Sometimes Torty lives with descendant Chris Little and wife Helen in the Waikato area, and at other times Torty lives with his brother Stephen and wife Christine in Palmerston North. We would like to invite a representative of the Little family to bring Torty to the event.  Wouldn't it be great to have an injured veteran of WW1 attending an Armistice Day commemoration 100 years later…