Remembering those whose lives were shaped by war

The approach of Anzac Day signals a time to remember the millions of people who were affected by twentieth-century wars, and those whose lives and lands are still ravaged by invasion and civil conflict. 

Oratia Books has a firm commitment to telling the stories of New Zealanders at war, not to glorify the events but better to understand and learn from the experience. 

Children's books such as When Dad Came Home touchingly retell the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on returning soldiers, and the role of family love in healing. 

Creating reconciliation and friendship from the shared experienced of Gallipoli is the theme  of our latest children's book, The Water Bottle, a collaboration between Kiwi author Philippa Werry and Turkish illustrator Burak Akbay.

For older readers, the most recent of Christopher Pugsley's masterful works of military history narrates New Zealand's last battle of the First World War as it happens. Le Quesnoy 1918 is an on-the-ground account of this daring capture of the French town of Le Quesnoy, vividly relating the realities of warfare. 

A valuable companion to Pugsley's new edition of Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story, Matthew Wright's The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front analyses what it was like for New Zealand soldiers at the two main battle fronts where they fought, and frames it with the social effects back home.

We will remember them this 25 April. 

For more reading, check the Oratia Books website.

Vanessa Hatley-Owen talks When Dad Came Home to local media

A fine profile of debut author Vanessa Hatley-Owen appeared in the Howick and Pakuranga Times yesterday (also in the Botany and Ormiston Times).

The article explores the genesis of  When Dad Came Home:

Some wounds are not visible. For some returned soldiers the battles continued long after the guns fell silent.

Those were the thoughts that were running in Vanessa Hatley-Owen’s mind as she attended an author talk about the effects of First World War.

For someone who has always been a history buff, it didn’t take long for Vanessa to weave the idea into a children’s picture story book.

So what happens after the soldiers return from war? She postulated and went on to write a gripping book for children at a weekend retreat for writers.

Just how hard it was for men to readjust after life in the trenches hit home to me reading a quote in Oratia's other book that marks the end of the First World War — Christopher Pugsley's tribute to the last major action of the war, Le Quesnoy 1918:

On 3 February 1919 Fred Cody writes from Germany at what is the start of his journey home. 

Been away so long that everything about home is a little blurred, but I suppose a man will settle down in time. 

Some men did settle down in time, as the father in When Dad Came Home finally manages with the love of his family. For others, the war never ended.

Bringing Dad home after the war ends

When the First World War ended, not all kids got their fathers back, and among those that did come home were many scarred by mental wounds. 

After the bands stop playing and the street festivities subside, young Rita and Thomas wait to see their Dad again. But the man who eventually comes home doesn’t speak and is frightened by loud noises. 

Struggling to understand, the kids support him as he readjusts to home life, all the while singing his favourite song. 

One day, while they help him fix the deck, Dad starts to join in the song …

When Dad Came Home movingly captures a children’s view of war and the realities of shell shock (what we now know as PTSD). 

Published on Thursday 8 November, in time to mark the centenary of the War’s end on 11 November 1918, this striking debut work is reminder of how the effects went on after the dads came home.

Author Vanessa Hatley-Owen will be on hand to launch the book at Howick Library this Saturday 10 November (see below) — all welcome. 

Vanessa Hatley-Owen (above, left) is a writer who has published with Learning Media and been a New Zealand Society of Authors mentee. A mother of three and teacher support, she lives in Howick, Auckland. 

Rosie Colligan (right) has illustrated for book and commercial clients in New Zealand and internationally, and formerly worked at Weta Digital. She lives in Wellington.

Publication: 8 November 2018  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-50-6  |  RRP $19.99                    Paperback, 230 x 135 mm, 32 pages colour

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