Caesar the Anzac Dog by Patricia Stroud

This beautiful and thought-provoking book by New Zealand author, Patricia Shroud, tracks the training and work done by Caesar a Red Cross rescue dog. The book tracks his farewell from New Zealand, his time on the HMNZ 43 Transport ship, to the training  camp in Egypt, and to his final destination on the battlefields of the Somme in France. The book gives great insight into the way in which animals such as horses and dogs were used in World War 1. The are beautiful, sepia  illustrations throughout the book, even one showing the dugout kennels which were like bomb shelters used to protect the dogs from enemy artillery. Other keys characters are his handler and ambulance driver, Tom,  and nurse, Kath Butcher who pampered Caesar whenever she had the opportunity. It is a very moving book which pays tribute not only to Caesar but to all other four legged helpers on the battlefields. 

The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico

This is probably in the top ten of my favourite books. I saw the film as a young girl and then discovered my mum owned a first edition of the book which I then read. A few years later, when I was in grade 9, I did a book study on it. I have collected various editions over the years and have decided to put one into The Library of Rescued Books for more capable readers. This story was originally published as a short story in The Saturday Evening Post, a bimonthly American magazine, and then later expanded by its author Paul Gallico into a novella which was first published in 1941. The book is all about a teenage girl, Frith, who brings an injured snow goose to a reclusive, middle-aged hunchback Philip Rhyder who is also an artist. He lives on the marshes at the edge of the sea and the two of them nurse the wounded bird back to health. A beautiful friendship blossoms between Philip and Frith as tey spend time together each year when the snow goose returns to the marshes. The outbreak of World War 1 brings inevitable tragedy... This book also contains the short story The Small Miracle and is illustrated by Anne Linton.

I still haven't been able to get hold of a copy of the film, but it can be viewed in parts on YouTube.