Peace

by Wendy Anderson Halperin (Illustrator)

Overview

This lavish and lyrical picture book based on the Tao Te Ching ponders the eternal question: How can we bring peace to the world?

Radiating tenderness and reflecting the influence of eastern philosophies, a compilation of exquisite illustrations and wisely chosen words reveals the heart of where peace truly must originate: within ourselves. The beautifully intricate artwork, with tiny, precisely rendered details of life across the globe, complements the spare and powerful text that includes quotations from famous peacemakers. And with each reading, you’ll find something else to notice—such as the visual storylines that subtly play out across the pages.

Poetic and soothing, Peace is a masterful exploration of the true path to world peace and serves as a perfect springboard to discussions about bullying, conflict resolution, and right actions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780689825521
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/29/2013
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Wendy Anderson Halperin is an acclaimed artist who has illustrated dozens of books for children, including Let’s Go Home by Cynthia Rylant, Soft House by Jane Yolen, and Turn, Turn, Turn! by Peter Seeger. She lives in South Haven, Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

Halperin (Planting the Wild Garden) combines spreads that evoke stained glass with simple, aphoristic statements about how peace grows ("When there is peace in our hearts, there will be peace in our homes"). Watercolor-and-colored-pencil spreads, divided into smaller panels, show miniatures of the world's children with quotations from figures like Mother Theresa running decoratively through and around them: "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." A child sits next to a donkey underneath a crescent moon; an Asian child and a white-bearded grandfather look at a computer together. Children demonstrate with placards ("Girls can be scientists, too!"), help each other with homework, and bend over buckets, doing chores. Many spreads show animals and plants alongside humans: it's clear that for Halperin, peace can come only when humans live in balance with the Earth. Although some of the quotations will be beyond the comprehension of younger readers ("Slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures"), the main text is simple enough that repeated readings may have children reciting along. Ages 4–8. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Media Group. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"The symmetry of the layouts and the clean beauty of the pencil-and-watercolor artwork, with its images of children, families, flower, and fauna, spans the globe and creates pleasing effects throughout the volume...Here’s one to pore over and ponder."

Booklist

"The symmetry of the layouts and the clean beauty of the pencil-and-watercolor artwork, with its images of children, families, flower, and fauna, spans the globe and creates pleasing effects throughout the volume...Here’s one to pore over and ponder."

Booklist

* "This lovely, uplifting title is meant to be pored over and could be used as a starting point for important discussions about bullying, racism, nonviolence, and many other topics."

"The symmetry of the layouts and the clean beauty of the pencil-and-watercolor artwork, with its images of children, families, flower, and fauna, spans the globe and creates pleasing effects throughout the volume...Here’s one to pore over and ponder."

From the Publisher

It is difficult to teach the concept of peace, especially through words alone. Wisely, Halperin buttresses her words visually. Halperin pulls readers in by letting them create their own stories. In the first half, when the narrator explains what must be done ("For there to be peace in nations, / there must be peace in cities"), small, detailed vignettes show people around the world in trying circumstances. Readers see anger, loneliness, bullying and more. But when the structure switches and works its way from the microcosm back out ("There will be peace in our cities / when there is peace in our nations"), readers can find resolutions to all the problems of the previous pages. Halperin invites children to pore over the colored-pencil drawings, carefully inspecting each miniature storyline to imagine what happens. In the first nations/cities spread, for example, one vignette depicts an old man with a cane walking past a full bench on a subway car; in the second, a boy has stood to give him his seat. Quotes from noted peacemakers wind in ribbons around the vignettes. The center spread, which declares the ever-earnest advice that peace must start in our hearts, includes drawings from actual children--all of which hopefully inspire readers that they can make a difference, no matter how small. Soft-spoken, yet powerful; Halperin not only tells, she makes readers think, which is the best way to learn. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews