In the build-up to the launch of her new book, Peacebuilders: Daisaku Ikeda & Josei Toda, Buddhist Leaders, a Biography, author M. LaVora Perry has launched an essay competition for kids right through from K-12 – that’s 5-18 year olds. Divided into three age-groups, there’s a choice of essay titles about building peace. Deadline for entries is 11:59 P.M. US Ohio time on the book launch date, Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

Older Brother and Little Brother have just watched the trailers (both the long and short version) and are resolved to read the book – we’ll be reviewing it soon on PaperTigers. And I also want to find out a bit more about Daisaku Ikeda’s children’s books…

This week many countries will be honoring their war dead. Called Veterans Day in the U.S., November 11th is referred to as Remembrance Day in Canada and Armistice Day in the UK. Although there are many fine books for children on the subject of war, the wordless picture book Why by Nikolai Popov is a compelling allegorical meditation on the subject. It depicts an encounter between a mouse and frog that becomes suddenly fraught with tension and unexpected violence that leads to a massacre. The book is beautifully illustrated by Popov whose own memories of the war from his perspective as a young Russian boy (he was born in 1938) are recounted in the author’s note in the back.

Following the “War & Peace in children’s books” tag will lead you to some of the other excellent books we have highlighted on the PaperTigers blog. Are there any books about war that you share with your children? Do share them with us!

This month marks 70 years since the outbreak of the Second World War. The First World War had been described as the war to end all wars – yet just over thirty years later, Hitler’s invasion of Poland triggered a new conflict that would go on to engulf the whole world. Older Brother came home from his first day back at school yesterday and announced that their topic for this term is to be the Second World War. I am relieved that the teaching of history has moved on since I was at school, when all we seemed to do was draw diagrams of battle lines and rote learn significant dates. Now, I am sure, he will learn about these events but also about the cost to human life – and, I hope, he will emerge with an inkling of the horrors of war.

A superb picture book which both provides historical context and reminds us of the human tragedy which accompanies the machinations of war is Photographs in the Mud by Dianne Wolfer and illustrated by Brian Harrison-Lever (Fremantle Press, 2005). We follow the stories of two soldiers, one Australian, the other Japanese, as they set off for the front in Papua New Guinea. Jack leaves behind a pregnant wife; and Hoshi, his wife and small daughter. Each carries photographs to remind them of home – and the passing of time is emphasised through the illustrations as these photographs change.
There are many casualties on both sides before Jack and Hoshi encounter one another. Both fatally wounded, they turn to the comfort of the photographs that are their only connection with home – and then share them with each other. When they are found the next day, a soldier retrieves the photographs from the mud and tries to separate them but they are stuck together. (more…)

The PaperTigers’ Book of the Month choice for March is One Peace: True Stories of Young Activists (Orca, 2008), by self-proclaimed “passionate pacifist” Janet Wilson.

The marketing material we received from Orca, along with our review copy of the book, says: “For the future to be better than the past, better than the present, we must equip our children with an understanding of the world around them and encourage faith in their ability to bring about change.” The latest issue of PaperTigers heartily echoes their sentiment, and One Peace encapsulates it perfectly: by telling the stories of youth who have taken leadership roles, it inspires young readers to take their own steps toward world peace. Told through art, poetry, quotations, and photographs, the book includes profiles of Farlis Calle, who started Colombia Children’s Movement for Peace; Craig Kielburger, three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with Free The Children, an organization he founded at age 12; Kimmie Weeks, who established Voices of the Future, Liberia’s first child rights advocacy group, and many more.

The idea for the book, which has been included in the 2008 Smithsonian Notable Books for Children list, came during a presentation, when Wilson was asked by a child “why children are taught about war but not peace.” One Peace was, ultimately, her response. But she has more to say about the matter: her plan is to write a series of books about “building a more peaceful and just world under the guidance of our wise children.” Hurray for that!

To read about Janet Wilson’s painting of the activists’ portraits, check here. And for more of her artwork, take a peek at her PaperTigers gallery.

Michael Morpurgo is one of the greats in contemporary British children’s literature – he is a master craftsman of storytelling who weaves fiction into such convincing historical contexts that you have to pinch yourself to remember the characters came out of his imagination

Two of his recent stories for older children have a wartime setting: but both stories also have roots in the present and a new generation, which bring a perspective of hope and renewal to counterbalance the feelings of despair engendered by these examples of the futility and madness of war. The Best Christmas Present in the World (Egmont, 2004) centres around a letter from Jim Macpherson, an English officer in the First World War, which relates the extraordinary events of the momentary truce and famous football game between the British and the Germans on Christmas Day, 1914. Many years later, at Christmas time, the letter is found in an old, second-hand desk by the narrator. It is marked as “Jim’s last letter, received 25th January 1915. To be buried with me when the time comes.” And so our narrator sets out to find “Dearest Connie” – and gives her the best Christmas present in the world…

Meanwhile, The Mozart Question (Walker Books, 2008) is the story of a world-famous violinist, Paolo Levi, whose parents’ lives were saved in the Second World War through playing the violin in an orchestra at a Nazi concentration camp. Lesley, the story’s narrator, is a young journalist who is sent to Venice to interview Paolo. She pointedly does not ask him the forbidden Mozart question – but the time is right for him to talk about it. He tells her (more…)

I have started the new year with an optimistic set of intentions which, hopefully, I’ll be able to honor. A few of them have to do with world peace—perhaps not surprisingly, given our world’s state of affairs—but, as the days go by and news of more world conflicts are absorbed, I am reminded that it takes a lot more than good intentions to live up to one’s high ideals.

So with these thoughts in mind, yesterday I headed to my local library to find a children’s book on the theme of new year’s resolutions and/or good intentions. As it turned out, I was introduced to an adorable young boy who knows exactly what he needs to do to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Written and illustrated by Isabel Pin, and translated from the German by Nancy Seitz, When I Grow Up I Will Win the Nobel Peace Prize (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006) is the tale of a boy who is determined to be good… when he grows up. He will help the poor. He will be kind to everyone. He will protect the environment and help save the planet. When he grows up.

Whereas the text states all his noble intentions, page after page of Pin’s exuberant illustrations depicts him behaving contrary to his ideals. But when the list of what he’ll do when he grows up gets too long, he finally realizes that getting started right away isn’t such a bad idea.

This delightful book will give children and adults lots to ponder and consider about their own good intentions, and should get them acting on them sooner, rather than later.

An afterword provides a brief history of the Nobel Peace Prize and describes the inspiring good deeds of some of its recipients.

For additional peace-related resources, check our reading lists & links. Our “war & peace in children’s books” issue will be up until the end of January.

This week we have watched with shock and horror the events unfold in Mumbai, India . Our sympathies go out to all those affected by the tragic events, especially the children. Last week I posted about Bookaroo – India’s first ever festival of children’s literature. The event was a huge success and organizers had hoped to take the event to Mumbai in the New Year. Now it remains to be seen if that will happen.

Our new issue of PaperTigers focuses on the timely themes of war, peace and social justice in relation to children’s books. How can we help children to cope with the divisiveness and contradictions at play in the world today? How can we help them to feel that they have the power to change things for the better? PaperTigers Managing Editor Aline points out “At no other time in recent history have these themes been more relevant or their challenges more urgent than they are now”. How true!

With the events in India fresh in my mind, I am reminded by a campaign to encourage reading that the Pakistan chapter of IBBY started following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007. As the country plunged into violence and civil unrest, IBBY Pakistan initiated a poster campaign in an attempt to “counteract the daily subjection of the children to images of terrorism, destruction and despair.” IBBY Pakistan states:

“The aim of the poster campaign is to encourage reading and school attendance, cut the drop-out rate and allow the next generation to move forward out of the current cycle of destruction.The organization is putting every effort into a nationwide poster campaign that will bring children and books together with information, knowledge, and awareness of peace and tolerance towards each other: issues that are often neglected in their lives today. IBBY Pakistan believes that with these methods they can begin to stop what they see as brain washing of the young by the virulent campaign of violence they see around them every day.”

Given our website’s current focus on war, peace and social justice in children’s books, the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai have made me keenly aware that our challenges are many on the path to a more peaceful world. Kids and young adults are cognizant of the two wars America has been fighting against terrorism since 9/11 and of the latest terrorist attacks in India. Understandably, they have a lot to try to make sense of and get to grips with. Clearly, they can’t do it on their own.

Kids ask lots of tough questions in general, but their questions about terrorism and war are especially hard to answer. As parents, teachers and responsible adults, should we protect our children from war- and terrorism-related news, and if not, how should we explore the topics with them?

What to say and how to say it to children clearly depend on their age and maturity level, but however we choose to handle their questions, we must be thoughtful, as times of war and conflict are fertile breeding grounds for prejudice through stereotyping. We adults must reconcile the dilemma of explaining terrorism, and why nations have enemies, armies and go to war, while also promoting non-violence.

An article on Dr. Spock’s website, on how to talk to older children and teens about acts of terrorism and war encourages parents and teachers to ask them questions: “Are those who commit acts of terrorism fundamentally different from the rest of us? Are there circumstances under which we could imagine ourselves acting as the terrorists have? Has our government ever taken actions that might appear, from the point of view of others around the world, to be terribly wrong? Can we understand terrorism without accepting it? Is it important for us to try?”

There are no simple right and wrong answers, of course. What is important is the attempt to understand—a very difficult challenge that books can help make less daunting.The Flame Tree by Richard Lewis, for instance, is a wonderful post-9/11 young adult novel, set in Java, that sensitively deals with issues of faith, hatred, violence and tolerance. It is a story that succeeds in providing a glimpse into the true nature of Islamism—a glimpse that should help readers take the more extreme version the media often presents with a grain of salt.

On the more general topic of war, we have the example of Jennifer Armstrong, “historyteller” and author, who edited Shattered: Stories of Children and War, a collection of twelve stories written by young adult authors examining war’s implications in young people’s lives. She has written a beautiful piece in praise of war books for children—and I conclude this post with her thought-provoking reasoning:

Being a writer, I must acknowledge the richness of war as a subject for fiction. Great stories arise from conflict, and there can be no greater conflict than war. To whom do you owe greater loyalty? To your family, your friend, your religion, your ideals, your country? For what would you die? For what would you kill? These are soul-baring questions, and I think they are as important for children to consider as they are for adults… If you really want to teach young readers about peace, give them books about war.

Children are naturally idealistic and righteous. They have a fine-tuned sense of justice. Literature about war gives young readers the chance to think of what is just and unjust, to develop the capacity for philosophic inquiring doubt. It gives them the chance to contemplate the alternative to peace. When they read Faithful Elephants: A True story of Animals, People and War [by Yukio Tsuchiya] and cry out in dismay, ‘But it’s not right!’, they are absolutely correct. It’s not. This, it seems to me, is the preferable attitude with which to greet war, not, ‘It’s inevitable!’.

For more book suggestions and resources related to the theme of war and peace in children’ books, check out these reviews, as well as our reading lists and resource pages.

This month the PaperTigers website offers many new and thought-provoking features related to the themes of “war, peace and social justice” in children’s books.

One of its many highlights is the article Books for Thought and Action: A Taste of Jane Addams’ Legacy by Jo Montie. Jo is a consultant and writer working on topics of peace, social justice and inclusive education, and a former committee member of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards, which recognize books that promote the cause of peace, justice, equality and world community.

Please enjoy… and help us spread the word!

Yesterday was Peace Day – thousands of people around the world stopped to stand together for a world without conflict, for a world united:

PEACE is more than the absence of war.
It is about transforming our societies and
uniting our global community
to work together for a more peaceful, just
and sustainable world for ALL. (Peace Day)

There is an ever-increasing number of children’s books being written by people who have experienced conflict first hand and whose stories give rise to discussion that may not be able to answer the question, “Why?” but at least allows history to become known and hopefully learnt from.

For younger children, such books as A Place Where Sunflowers Grow by Amy Lee-Tai and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino; Peacebound Trains by Haemi Balgassi; and The Orphans of Normandy by Nancy Amis all focus on children who are the innocent victims of conflict. We came across The Orphans of Normandy last summer. I was looking for something to read with my boys on holiday, when we were visiting some of the Normandy World War II sites. It is an extraordinary book: a diary written by the head of an orphanage in Caen and illustrated by the girls themselves as they made a journey of 150 miles to flee the coast. Some of the images are very sobering, being an accurate depiction of war by such young witnesses. It worked well as an introduction to the effects of conflict, without being unnecessarily traumatic.

The story of Sadako Sasaki, (more…)