31st December Universal Hour of Peace

To follow on from my last post and to put more emphasis on the peace angle, here is the perfect book, Peace on Earth by Smitri Halls and David Litchfield. You need to own this book, but you can read it all here.

'Peace on Earth Goodwill to All' is something we all desire, given the conflict raging in the world at the moment and this book is a child-friendly way to have a conversation about conflict and how it might so easily start. A group of friends set off full of joy and anticipation on a journey, but when they become lost, hurtful words cause distress and pain. The friends find strength and inner courage to reconcile their differences and the illustrations show the metaphoric light as the means of restoring harmony.

Given the conflict between Gaza and Israel, many parents have been asking for books that will help explain to their young children why wars happen. The suggestions here from UNICEF in How to talk to your children about conflict and war and from APS in How to Talk to Children About the Hamas-Israel Conflict  are a good place to start.

As UNICEF notes: “It’s important not to minimise or dismiss their concerns. If they ask a question that might seem extreme to you, such as ‘Are we all going to die?’, reassure them that is not going to happen, but also try to find out what they have heard and why they are worried about that happening. If you can understand where the worry is coming from, you are more likely to be able to reassure them.” 

To start discussions with your child or a class choose an age-appropriate book. Some suggestions that I have used:

• The Squirrels Who Squabbled  by Rachel Bright and Jim Field

• Everybody's Welcome  by Patricia Hegarty and Greg Abbott

• Why? by Nikolai Popov

• A Child's Garden: A Story of Hope  by Michael Foreman

• The Journey  by Francesca Sanna

• The Hawk and the Dove  by Paul Kor

• The Librarian of Basra  by Jeanette Winter

• Noor and Bobby  by Praline Gay-Para and Lauranne Quentric

• The Conquerors by David McKee

• The Forgiveness Garden by Lauren Thompson and Christy Hale

• Go Away, War!  by Elzbieta Gaudasinska (this little book is old but you might find it in a library under this title or Jon-Jon and Annette. It is a translation from French. This moving and hopeful parable about children and war tells how Jon-Jon and Annette play together as best friends until the war comes and they are forbidden to see each other. You can read the book here.)

Every year on December 31st, thirty minutes before midnight, is Universal Hour of Peace . You will have one hour to set an intention around building peaceful relations with others and yourself. The holiday was founded in 1995 by Dr. Barbara Condron from the School of Metaphysics to celebrate peace and call the people of the world to live in peace.

To read with children books that are specifically about peace (maybe not thirty minutes before midnight) see:

• Peace by Baptiste Paul and Miranda Paul

• What Does Peace Feel Like?  by Vladimir Radunsky

• I Am Peace  by Susan Verde and Peter Reynolds

• Peace is an Offering by Annette LeBox andStephanie Graegin

• Can You Say Peace?  by Karen Katz

• Talk Peace  by Sam Williams and Mique Moriuchi

• Let There Be Peace and Let it Begin With Me by Jill Jackson, Sy Miller and David Diaz

17th November World Peace Day

I struggle to see exactly what the difference is between this day and International Day of Peace which is held on 21st September, but I guess it really doesn't matter how many Peace Days there are, it is something we should be thinking about on a daily basis. World Peace Day requests that each person take a moment to fold a couple of paper cranes and mail them to a world leader or hang them in a place that is visible to the public. One of the Kindergarten classes at school did this just this week. One of the students had learned to make origami cranes and she taught her peers to do it. The teacher took the opportunity to send to the library for the picture book version of Sadako by Eleanorr Coerr and Ed Young.  She read it to the class and of course it is a lot for six year olds to take on board, but there were plenty of questions and because of the paper folding they will remember the story.

When I read the poem, Peaceguy's Prayer by Don Morris that is posted on websites about World Peace Day I can't help but think about how powerful these lines from the beginning of the poem are.

May the people on this planet be changed
Changed from hatred to love,
Changed from greed to giving,
Changed from selfishness to selflessness,
Changed from apathy to action,
Changed from jealousy to joy over someone's accomplishments,
Changed from intolerance to acceptance,
Changed from being destructive to being constructive,
Changed from fighting to peace,
Changed from killing to protecting life,
Changed form censorship to freedom,
Changed from ignorance to education,
Changed from fearing our differences to rejoicing our variety.


Of course there are many picture books that you could choose to illustrate the ideas presented here, but immediately I thought of these. They may not be easy to buy, but search them out in the library because you will not be disappointed. Lessons planned with these and class discussions on these are always rewarding.

* Feathers and Fools  by Mem Fox. This wonderful book about a fight among birds allows children to step back initially because the protagonists are not people, but they are quick to draw parallels after the story is finished. (Please note if you are in Australia this book may have a different illustrator. It has a blue cover.)

* Milo and the Mysterious Island by Marcus Pfister. This story is the sequel to Milo and the Magical Stones, but this time the cliff mice sail off on a raft  to explore a tropical island. Here they meet a tribe of striped mice. Like its predecessor this book also has two endings offering two resolutions to the  conflict between the mice.

* The Sea People by Jorg Muller and Jorg Steiner is a magnificent book. It is larger than most picture books, has amazingly detailed illustrations and deals with the meaty themes of greed and conflict and it is truly awe-inspiring.