Peace.
Despite what John Lennon urged, as adults, it's hard for us to imagine peace. As a global community, we've never had it; we've never seen it. It's more the stuff of imagination than possibility. Heck, even the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) for Wendy Anderson Halperin's new book,
Peace, is 172.42, translation - "political ethics." Pragmatic, yes - but lacking in idealism to be sure.
But to talk to children (even teenagers) and many
can envision peace -
and they have ideas on how to achieve it. That's one of the many things that make children so wonderful. They haven't lost the ability to hope and dream and imagine the to-date unachievable.
Wendy Anderson Halperin's new book,
Peace (Atheneum, 2013), seizes on that idealism, reflects it, and feeds it with new possibility.
Groupings of Halperin's delicate and peaceful, pencil and watercolor illustrations decorate each page in this circular story of peace which begins,
For there to be peace in the world ...
there must be peace in nations.
Accompanying each line is a collection of quotes from the likes of Walt Whitman, Dalai Lama, Kofi A. Annon, and other lesser-known individuals. The quotes serve as borders between the many illustrations on each page, each one, a story in itself.
The circular narrative leads inward, with the continuing theme of
For there to be ...
there must be ...
until the "heart" of the book is reached,
For there to be peace in homes,
there must be peace in our hearts.
Here the double-spread layout features the art of schoolchildren from Michigan, Ohio, and New York, and moving then outward, the refrain changes to
When there is ...
there will be ... .
Culminating in the elusive,
There will be peace in our nations.
And we will have peace in our world.
Peace is a beautiful and inspiring piece of work, or perhaps more aptly, a work of peace.
Much thought went into the design and concept for the book, as evidenced by its companion website, "
Drawing Children Into PEACE." The page with suggested
Peace Projects has some great ideas. As a matter of fact, I have an old chair that would make a fine "peace chair." It may not turn out as well as the one below, but I'm inspired to give it a try.
See several pages of Peace at the author's website.
A quick picture book roundup for April ...
- Gibson, Amy. 2012. Split! Splat! Ill. by Steve Bjorkman. New York: Scholastic.
April showers bring May flowers
and delightful books about rain! Enjoy this rhyming, cumulative book with bright watercolor illustrations. It begs to bed read aloud - perfect for storytime!
I sing a little mud song,
a puddle song,
a muddle song,
a no-shoes, toes-ooze,
slip-slap-and-thud song.
- Schaefer, Lola M. 2012. One Special Day. Ill. by Jessica Meserve. New York: Disney/Hyperion.
Bold, "digital oil pastel" illustrations accompany bold and simple text that describes a bold young boy, who was "strong as a" [bear], "fast as a" [horse], and many other wonderfully bold things,
untilhe as gentle,
because,
for the first time ever --
Spencer was a brother.
A fun, participatory (the animal names are provided in illustration only), and touching book about welcoming a new baby.
As any younger sibling can tell you, the old repeat-everything-you-say and copy-everything-you-do is one of the oldest tricks in a young one's toolbox. The reason it's so popular is that it is virtually impossible to defend against - as Little Puffin finds out in
Don't Copy Me! The very-funny Jonathan Allen has a great time with this one (click the title link for a peek inside). Call me politically incorrect, but what I like best about
Don't Copy Me! is that all does not end well for Little Puffin. Score one for the little guys!
In no particular order, these were some of the wonderful picture books
that I found in my book bag this week! I loved them all.
Spinelli, Jerry. 2010.
I Can be Anything! Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. New York: Little, Brown.
A rhyming romp through all of the possibilities of the future - "cross-legged sitter, make-believe critter, deep-hole digger, lemonade swigger." Who knows? Bright and joyful illustrations!
Fuge, Charles. 2010.
Yip! Snap! Yap! New York: Sterling.
Another lively, rhyming romp! This one featuring delightfully goofy dogs!
Thomson, Bill. 2010.
Chalk. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish.
The illustrator of the exquisitely illustrated,
Baseball Hour, Bill Thompson outdoes himself with
Chalk - a wordless book that tells the story of a magical, rainy day at the playground for three children and a mysterious bag of chalk. Let your imagination run wild and enjoy Bill Thomson's hand-crafted brilliance!
Geringer, Laura. 2010.
Boom Boom Go Away! Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. New York: Atheneum.
Music lovers, noise makers, and children who don't want to go to bed will love
Boom Boom Go Away! Its cumulative rhyme is full of playfulness and imagination. The warm illustrations evoke picture books of an earlier era.
Jeffers, Oliver. 2010.
The Heart and the Bottle. New York: Philomel.
This is not a book for storytime. It's a serious book for a special child - perhaps a grieving child, a child with a profound loss, a child who may have placed her heart in a bott
This would be a great book to share in classrooms! We spend a lot of time talking about being able to work with one another. Peace does indeed start with ourselves. Thank you for sharing.
I'd love to read this book. The cover is perfect - I feel more peaceful just looking at it!
Thanks for this review. Peace sounds like a wonderful book and i can 't wait to read it.
This will be a terrific addition to the Doucette Library's collection. My favorite peace book is by V. Radunsky, What Does Peace Feel Like?. thanks for this recommendation.
Tammy
Apples with Many Seeds