Peace - Hardcover

Wendy Anderson Halperin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689825528 ISBN 13: 9780689825521

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2013

Synopsis

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.

About this title

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.

Reviews

Gr 3 Up-A beautiful book with rich watercolor artwork. Most of the paintings are spreads in a nontraditional layout, with sections sometimes divided into shapes by the meandering text. The book is about peace and how it can be achieved: in the world, in the country, in the city, in one's school, and within oneself. The layout makes it a challenge to read aloud to a group. Many quotes from various people are included, with a running narrative on each page, beginning with "For there to be peace in the world...," on the first page, followed by "...there must be peace in nations" on the next. Each spread incorporates the words of others to support the running circular narrative. For example, "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools.-Albert Einstein" is followed by "What you do not want done to you, do not do to others.-Confucius." 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.-Mary Hazelton, formerly at Warren & Waldoboro Elementary Schools, MEα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

“For there to be peace in the world, there must be peace in nations” begins this lovely picture book, which uses similar sentences on successive double-page spreads in the first half of the book, tracing a trail of peace from the world to nations to cities to neighborhoods to schools to homes to hearts. The soothing main text becomes a bit confusing in the second half, given the many diverting quotations and illustrations that share space on each broad spread. Attributed to an eclectic mix of unknown names and familiar religious, political, literary, and cultural figures, the quotes appear within the long, thin white spaces that divide each spread into a number of different, pleasing shapes. 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. While other picture books on peace may be better suited to reading aloud to groups, here’s one to pore over and ponder. Grades K-3. --Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689825528
• ISBN 13: 9780689825521
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Wendy Anderson Halperin
• Number of pages: 40