Our Jacko / Michael Morpurgo ; illustrated by David Gentleman.

First published in 2014 in "The Great War: stories inspired by objects from the First World War" by Walker Books, London.

Illustrations on endpapers.

A deeply personal and tender story of war, peace and those who are left behind. One hundred years after the war to end all wars, Jacko's descendants discover his notebook and the untold stories tucked in its pages. "This war is a nightmare that one day I shall wake from and then forget. And if I don't wake, then you shall never know. I don't want you ever to know." No one seems to know where the scruffy tin hat came from - just that it is very old, from some war or other long ago. To young Michael and his family it has its uses today: as a child's toy, a feeding bowl for the hens, a hanging basket... Then Michael discovers that it belonged to his great-great-grandfather, "Our Jacko", who lost his life at Ypres in 1915. As the boy digs deeper, he finds the young soldier's diary and learns more about his forgotten ancestor - husband, father, poet, actor - who died so tragically young. And it becomes clear exactly how Our Jacko should be commemorated.

For upper primary school age.