Peace by Baptiste Paul and Miranda Paul illustrated by Esteli Meza

Peace is a hello, a smile, a hug.

Peace can be bold or quiet and snug.

Peace is pronouncing your friend's name correctly.

Peace means we talk to each other directly. ...

Peace is a pillow that softens our sleep.

Peace pulls us through darkness or up from the deep.

This book consists of rhyming couplets and I am happy to say these are done really well. Many beginning picture book authors think writing a rhyming text is an easier option - I am going to say, and say loudly, it is not. A rhyming text should not talk down to young readers, it should not be afraid to use complex ideas or vocabulary and a rhyming text needs to work well when read aloud. The rhythm of the words needs to be maintained and not feel forced. 

Esteli Meza included animals from Mozambique because Baptiste Paul, who is from St Lucia, wanted to link the war in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992 with the loss of animals. Over 90% of the wildlife was lost but today the wild animals have returned. There are also other animals such as the panda and our own koala.

"Some of the animals that appear in this book are ones you might find in Mozambique today, while others are cultural symbols of peace from nations around the world."

Here is the trailer for Peace from North South Books. I love the simple end papers in this book which consist of a tree covered in leaves and on each leaf we have the word peace in forty languages.

As I have mentioned previously I am collecting books from around the world and in particular I am keen to find books with illustrators from a huge variety of countries.  On the title page you will see the famous peace dove with a tiny olive branch in her beak.

Estelí Meza grew up surrounded by books, and her love for illustration began when she attended la Feria del Libro Infantil y Juvenil with her father. In 2018, Estelí was awarded A la Orilla del Viento, the premier picture book award in Mexico. Finding Home is her author-illustrator debut in the United States, published by Scholastic. She has also illustrated books published in Mexico, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. Estelí spends her days drawing in her neighbourhood in Mexico Cit. Here are a few of her books including one about feelings (in Spanish). 

Read more about this book here.

And here are some other books by Baptiste Paul:

And here are a few by Miranda Paul:

Peaceful pieces: Poems and Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines

I am working my way through the riches of the blog Kinderbookswitheverything.  This blog contains a wealth of wonderful books and I am making a list of books I want to discover and read. I working my way backwards from the beginning back in 2009.  The post of 19th March 2011 celebrating National Quilting Day caught my eye.  Especially the mention of the book Peaceful Pieces. This book contains peace poems suitable for ages 7+ and the illustrations are made from quilting hence the title Peaceful Pieces.

Even though this beautiful poetry book was published in 2011 I am happy to report it is still available both as a new book for about AU$35 but I also found used copies for less than AUS$20. 

This book would be a wonderful addition to any school library. It could be enjoyed at any time but it would be especially useful to share this book for ANZAC Day or Remembrance Day. Peaceful Pieces by Anna Grossnickle Hines won numerous awards: Jane Addams Children's Book Award Winner, Indiana Young Hoosier Award Master List, Ohio Choose to Read Program. Take a look at the trailer on the Macmillan US site. Teachers could use this book to inspire students to write poems.

Here is one of the poems that touched my heart:

Peace: A recipe

Open minds - at least two.

Willing hearts - the same.

Rinse well with compassion.

Stir in a fair amount of trust.

Season with forgiveness.

Simmer in a sauce of respect.

A dash of humour brightens the flavor.

Best served with hope.

If you love illustrations made from quilts here are some that might be in your local school or public library:

Paulette Bourgeois and by Stephane Jorisch. Oma’s Quilt.

Jeff Brumbeau and Gail De Marcken. The Quiltmaker’s Gift. 

Eleanor Coerr and Bruce Degen. The Josefina Story Quilt.  

Valeria Flournoy and Jerry Pinkney. The Patchwork Quilt. 

Deborah Hopkinson and James Ransome. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. 

Tony Johnston and Tomie de Paola. The Quilt Story.  

Shirley Kurtz and Cheryl Benner. 2001. The Boy and the Quilt. 

Anne D Love and Ronald Himler. Bess’s Log Cabin Quilt. 

Patricia Polacco The Keeping Quilt. 

Phyllis Root. The Name Quilt. 

Here are some excellent books to share when you are talking about Peace.

Moon by Alison Olver

Moon lives an over scheduled life. Homework, soccer, trumpet, tutoring, "stuff and more stuff blah blah blah." Moon completes her tasks diligently but she questions the pattern of her life.

"What would it feel like to be free?
To run. To yell. To be wild. 
Can you learn to be wild?"

One evening Moon finds some footprints outside and in her garden she finds a wolf. The wolf offers Moon a ride and the pair set off into the forest. Moon has a wonderful evening of freedom. She learns to pounce and howl but the most special thing she discovers is "how to be still. How to listen and feel."

Image Source Blog Unleashing Readers

This is an exquisite book and one you could share many times with a young child. I wanted to stroke the wolf - his fur looks so inviting and soft.  Here is a set of discussion questions.

With its simple text and stunning illustrations, Moon is a lovely celebration of play, nature, and the revitalizing affect that embracing our inner wild can have on our well-being. Happily ever Elephants

This marvelous book is an invitation for us to look tonature to remember who we are and to realize the best life has to offerus.  Moon written and illustrated byAlison Oliver will have readers howling during and after story time. Librarian’sQuest

Alison Oliver has just published a companion volume to Moon - appropriately called Sun. I have added it to my too read list.

Alison Oliver has created truly special illustrations for Moon. Take a look at her web site - Sugar.

I would pair Moon with a Australian book Ella and the Ocean because this is also a book about the way experiences can alter our mind set and world view.

The Sound of Silence by Katrina Goldsaito illustrated by Julia Kuo

It was between and underneath every sound.

And it had been there all along.

Ma

silence.

Yoshio lives in Tokyo. He meets a musician and asks "do you have a favourite sound?"  The musician says the most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, the sound of silence. 

Yoshio listens to all the sounds in this busy city. The traffic, boots splashing through puddles, rain on umbrellas, the wind in the bamboo, the whoosh of the bullet train and even the sound of chopsticks, slurping and chewing dinner with his family. Finally Yoshio goes to bed but even that is not quiet as there is a radio playing in the background. The next morning Yoshio heads off to school. He arrives very early. Inside he sits at his desk and reads a book.

"Suddenly in the middle of a page, he hear it.
No sounds, no footsteps, no people chattering, no radios, no bamboo, no kotos being tuned.
In that short moment, Yoshio couldn't even hear the sound of his own breath."

The splendid school library I visit each week like to add stickers to the front cover of their books for all sorts of book awards from around the world.  This book had an award I had not seen before. The Sound of Silence was shortlisted for the Red Dot Book award 2017-2018. This award started in 2009 and is awarded through voting by school libraries in Singapore.

Past winners which I have mentioned on this blog:

2016-7 Picture book shortlist On Sudden Hill; Younger Readers winner Diva and Flea; Older Readers winner The Thing about Jellyfish.

2015-6 Younger readers winner Pigsticks and Harold.

2014-5 Older Readers The Fourteenth Goldfish, 3rd Place Rooftoppers.

The 2018-19 award will be presented in May 2019.  I spied The elephant and Juana and Lucas on the Younger Readers list and Tin and The Goldfish boy on the Older Readers list.

I would pair The Sound of Silence with The Sound of Colours and Silence by Lemniscates. Take time to read this detailed review in Horn Book which explains the way the illustrator has used colours to show the city noises. Listen to an excellent All the wonders Podcast  where you can hear the author and illustrator talking in depth about the processes and challenges of creating this book. You can see some pages from the illustrator of The Sound of Silence here.

An inviting tale that will stretch inquisitive and observant young minds—and may even lead children to a greater appreciation of that golden commodity, silence. Kirkus

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons by Glenda Milllard

“Magic is left over from childhood … we are all born with magic in us but many of us forget about it when we are grown up.”

When I read books to young children I often feel this kind of magic. I want to start this blog with three seemingly disconnected thoughts/events.

A young boy gave me a very special gift today – a bar of chocolate all the way from Belgium where he had recently travelled with his family.

Every so often a book arrives in our library that is so precious it leaves me breathless with anticipation. I have to begin reading straight away.

I don’t come from a large family but if I could choose a family to join this would be a very easy decision. I would choose the Silk family. They are incredibly special people who I have come to know and love through the skillful and magical writing of Glenda Millard.

Gifts? Yes I really did receive a lovely gift today. A gift chosen especially for me (a chocolate lover) and a gift given in kindness. The book that arrived today was the fifth book about the Silk family called Plum Puddings and Paper moons. At its heart I feel this book is about gifts even though the gifts are expressed as wishes. There are two kinds of wishes – those that are deep and dark and made aloud wishes that are usually for fun and not important at all. The silks call this second kind “Red kite wishes”.

Scarlett the oldest Silk sister wishes for peace in the world. The catalyst for this is a young refugee boy who has come to live in the town of Cameron’s Creek. Scarlett asks an important big question and hears the horrible truth about Anik’s family. “When I return home there is only smoke and fires. My village is burning. My house is gone. I hear guns and I run very fast.” Anik’s words spill out like hot soup. Scarlett needs to take action so she uses her worn out school tights to make wishbands. She sells these for fifty cents to all the people in Cameron’s Creek and on Christmas eve over three hundred people from the town gather in a quiet demonstration for peace.

Afterwards, in true Silk tradition, everyone gathers for a shared meal under the Cox’s Orange Pippin and for this Ben Silk has made a new table. It is so large and long nine men are needed to lift it out of the workshop. The table is made from the wood of an old bridge. Bridges have featured very prominently with us this year in school across Australia. Bridges do bring people together.

Finally I need to mention cakes, I love to cook cakes and one I regularly cook is an Armenian Nutmeg cake. Glenda Millard calls it an Armenian love cake and she kindly includes the recipe in the back of the book. I can tell you this is a delicious cake and just as delicious is the idea that Amber (another Silk sister) makes cakes to show her true feelings when words don’t come easily. Silver milk bottle tops also feature in this story and they were certainly a part of my childhood.

If you haven’t discovered the Kingdom of Silk find these books and start from the beginning this is a reading journey that will linger with you for a long time.

Christmas in the Trenches by John McCutcheon

ANZAC Day is the good time to add music to our literature sessions as we listen to the Last Post and sing songs at school assemblies. A book I love to read at this time of year is Christmas in the trenches. This important picture book is based on a song by John McCutcheon and his song in turn is based on real events of World War One when troops on both sides met in no mans land at Christmas to play a friendly soccer game and exchange simple gifts. These young men forgot about sides and enemies and for a moment their true humanity shone through.

Using the voice of Frances Tolliver, John McCutcheon gives an important insight into this event. You can also read about this time in a book by Michael Foreman called War game - we have this one in our library too.

I first heard John McCutcheon sing one of my favourite poems 'The Kindergarten Wall' on the radio. When I finally tracked down the album with this song “Water from another time” I was so excited to also find this moving song about World War I. A few years later I discovered the book illustrated by Henri Sorensen with a CD inside with the song.  I have also found a video to complete this package.