Anne Middleton
The Adventures of Piggy and Woof
The Story of the Poppy
I am excited to be working in partnership with The Royal British Legion (Devon) and Military Kids Club Heroes, to produce 10,000 booklets which will be delivered to all the Infant Schools in the Plymouth area in time for Remembrance this year. ‘The Story of the Poppy’ booklet is designed in a fun, child-friendly way as a ‘Z Card’, which is small enough to go into a pocket but opens out to reveal my story, ‘Piggy and Woof and the Poppy’. Goosewell Academy provided the beautiful pictures to illustrate my story and RBL Devon and MKC Heroes financed the printing of the booklets.
I first created the booklets with RBL Wiltshire in 2016, with a dual purpose to help younger children to understand why we wear poppies and to raise money for the Poppy Appeal. 5,000 booklets (Z cards) with my story, ‘Piggy and Woof and the Poppy’, were printed with all proceeds going to The Royal British Legion. I was thrilled that RBL Devon and MKC Heroes wanted to fund the booklets so that they could be given to children as an educational resource.
Some background to the project
Since my husband joined the army as a Padre (2013), I have been even more aware of the significance of the poppy. Having a young child at the time (though she is growing up now!), I became very aware of the need to be able to explain why we wear poppies each year, in a child-friendly and non-frightening way. Hence, I wrote my short story, ‘Piggy and Woof and the Poppy’ for Remembrance 2014.
When I share my story with children, as well as explaining the importance of remembrance, I explain that when we wear a poppy we are also saying thank you to the soldiers who are still serving in the army. For all those who have Mummies and Daddies in the army, I explain that they are making sacrifices too, for example, whenever their Daddy (or Mummy) has to go away, they miss them so much. So, the booklets are also saying thank you to them. I think this is really important – to appreciate and acknowledge how difficult it can be for military children, who have no control over their situations. So, this booklet is also all about the children…
Storytelling Sessions
If you are a teacher or have a connection with an Infants’ School in the Plymouth area and think that they may like a storytelling session about the story of the poppy, please do put them in touch with me. I need to make a charge for my storytelling, as I am unable to work completely voluntarily, but I would donate 15% of my fee to RBL and 15% to MKC Heroes. (See the Storytelling section of my website for costs.)
Anne's Interview about her work on BFBS Radio:
Anne's Interview about The Story of the Poppy on BFBS Radio: