Jack's Bugle

Book excerpt: When Aidan Jackson, known as Jack, leaves his parents' farm to fight overseas in World War I, he is excited by the promise of travel, adventure and new friends. Although Jack's bugle is brought home from the war by his best friend, it lies idle for years and years. Will the bugle ever be played again? This is a celebration of the music, optimism, mateship and the ultimate peace, that were part of the war to end all wars. Set against the background of the Gallipoli campaign of World War One, this picture book follows the journey of a bugle from an Australian farming town, to the big city, to Egypt, to Gallipoli, back to the city and finally into the hands of a boy from the country town where its adventure began. A few years ago, after speaking at a literature festival in Alice Springs, Krista was told the story of a bugle that had been bought in an Adelaide op shop by an Alice Springs local who then discovered that the bugle had originally come from Alice Springs! The story of a bugle that makes the return journey to and from a war began to simmer and this story was created. The aim was to write a story for younger readers with a unique and gentler way into the history of the Australian soldiers who took part in creating the legend of the ANZACS.