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.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 5-8 years.

There are 40 pages in this book. This book was published 2019 by Old Barn Books .

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.