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Little Manfred by Michael Morpurgo
Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2011

With a story by Michael Morpurgo and illustrations by Michael Foreman Little Manfred is a book to treasure for anyone who reads it.

In the summer of 1966 Charley and her little brother Alex meet two old men when walking their dog Manfred on the beach. This chance encounter holds the key to their mother’s past about which the children knew very little.
In 1945 their farm was a posting for German prisoners of war and their mother was just a little girl.
When the German battleship the Bismarck sinks, some survivors are taken on board a British ship as prisoners of war. They must adapt to a new way of life, in the heart of the enemy country. For two survivors Walter and Manfred this is made somewhat easier through their friendship with ten-year-old Grace who lives at the farm where they are sent to stay in return for work.

When the time comes for Walter to go back to Germany, he leaves Grace with a carved wooden dog to remember him by.

The question is, will Walter and Grace ever meet again? In 1966, the year in which Little Manfred is set with the World Cup coming to Britain, that opportunity may just have come along…