Pidge's Poppies by Jan Andrews illustrated by Timothy Ide

Pidge and Henry (a pair of pigeons) live near the Canberra War Memorial. Henry explains:

"It's where people remember those who died in wars."

Pidge remembers stories from her ancestors about the war in 1939 and the war in 1914 and the way one of his long-ago family members received the Dickin Medal.

"If the telegraph lines from the battlefront were bombed, the pigeons could still carry messages from soldiers back to headquarters. They saved many soldiers' lives."

Pidge and Henry hear the guide talking about war heroes and poppies. It is time to build their nest and the scattered poppies left by visitors are perfect. Is this a true story? It certainly feels like one and the back cover says yes, it is so here is a missed opportunity - this book would be so much better with some back notes and more details about these true events at our Canberra War Memorial. Luckily it was easy to find this information.

Photo from the Australian War Memorial

Each day the pigeon has been flying down to the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier to steal poppies, carefully crafting a nest in the lead-up to Remembrance Day in an alcove above the stained-glass window of a wounded Australian soldier. Read more here.

Watch a video from Channel Seven (23 seconds).

The illustrations in this book by Timothy Ide are terrific. I especially like the way the war memory pages are presented in sepia. He is the illustrator of another wonderful book - Tom the Outback Mailman. 

Here are a set of teachers notes from the publisher. Further reading from the Australian War Memorial.

I wonder why/how this 2024 book was missed by the CBCA 2025 Book of the Year judges. This is a book that could be shared with your youngest students who are sure to be amazed at the contribution of pigeons in many past wars.

Ide’s illustrations show a deep understanding of the text. The multi-layered illustrations create the visual story with much skill. The illustrations really shine a light on the story. The pigeons are lifelike in appearance and movement. The colours used vary according to the time frames. I love the sepia effect when the story travels through the world wars. The vivid red of the poppies sing and pop on the spreads they appear. Buzz Words

Look for these books too:

Lofty's Mission

Spies in the Sky

This final one might be hard to find in Australia but I saw it at the splendid D Day Museum in Portsmouth.