Since ancient times, poetrypoetry and song have served as powerful mediums for commemorating soldierssoldiers and expressing warwar experiences, from works like Homer’s Iliad to Wilfred Owen’sOwen, Wilfred Dulce et Decorum EstDulce et Decorum Est. These texts often intertwine historicalhistorical memory and culturalcultural narratives, resonating with modern audiences through themes of heroism, sacrifice, and traumatrauma. In classrooms, poetry and picture bookspicture books provide accessible avenues for exploring complex histories, including WWIWWI and broader topics such as colonialism, immigration, and First NationsFirst Nations experiences. This book examines well-known picture books and multimodalmultimodal textsmultimodal texts to explore how visualvisual and literary texts shape collective memorycollective memory and historical understanding with an initial focus on WWI before expanding to include more current contested issues. Organised into three sections, the book discusses the role of picture bookspicture books in teaching difficult histories, analyses postmodernpostmodern picture books addressing controversialcontroversial topics, and provides a framework for classroomclassroom pedagogy. This approach highlights the importance of empathyempathy, ethics, and creative expression in historicalhistorical education, showcasing how storytelling through multimodalmultimodal textsmultimodal texts bridges the past to the present. By emphasising culturalcultural memory over strict historical accounts, the book reveals how literature can inspire deeper connections to heritageheritage and collective identityidentity while fostering critical engagement with history.