In poignant verse, the story of one young shepherd makes the experience of soldiers in World War I accessible to children. Once there sang a carefree shepherd in a field of emerald green... Once Tom’s world was all at peace. Here is the tale of Tom Shepherd, tending his lambs and shearing their fleece and wooing his sweetheart, who weaves the sheep’s wool to make him a coat. But then the Great War comes, and Tom must leave his beloved wife and his unborn child and go off to fight. In a moving, sobering story that resolves in a heartbreaking but beautiful ending, Once a Shepherd evokes the reality of war in a way young children can understand, while fostering a deep-felt hope for peace.
Author
Glenda Millard was born in the Goldfields region of Central Victoria and has lived in the area all her life. The communities she has lived in and the surrounding landscapes have provided a rich source of inspiration and settings for many of her stories. It was not until Glenda's four children became teenagers that she began to write in her spare time. She is now a full-time writer. Apart from writing, some of Glenda's favorite things are Jack Russell Terriers, hot-air ballooning, making and eating bread and pizza in the wood-fired oven that her husband built in the back yard, and reading books which either make her laugh or cry. Glenda has published six picture books, three junior fiction titles, short stories and two young adult titles. 'The Naming of Tishkin Silk' was shortlisted in the CBCA Book of the Year Awards and for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
