War Is Over

Transcending its time and period, this moving and lyrical story, beautifully illustrated, explores the fear and hope of children in time of war.

I am just a child. How can I be at war?

It’s 1918, and war is everywhere. John’s father is fighting in the trenches far away in France, while his mother works in a menacing munitions factory just along the road. His teacher says that John is fighting, too, that he is at war with enemy children in Germany. One day, in the wild woods outside town, John has an impossible moment: a dreamlike meeting with a German boy named Jan. John catches a glimpse of a better world, in which children like Jan and himself can one day scatter the seeds of peace. David Almond brings his ineffable sensibility to a poignant tale of the effects of war on children, interwoven with David Litchfield’s gorgeous black-and-white illustrations.

David Almond is the acclaimed author of many award-winning novels for children, including Skellig, The Tightrope Walkers, and The Tale of Angelino Brown. He has also collaborated with many celebrated artists, including Polly Dunbar, Dave McKean, and Oliver Jeffers, on fiction for younger readers. David Almond's books are beloved all over the world, and in 2011 he was the recipient of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award. He lives in England.

David Litchfield first started to draw when he was very young, creating comics for his older brother and sister. Since then his work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and books and on T-shirts. His first picture book, The Bear and the Piano, won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. He is the illustrator of When Paul Met Artie: The Story of Simon & Garfunkel by G. Neri. He lives in England.