Review by Booklist Review
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.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
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, ME (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
With kaleidoscopic images and spare text--supplemented with related quotes from writers and world figures--each double-page spread gives readers a different way to think about peace, from a world view to the home level. Halperin's quiet, detailed colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations depict scenes of people living in harmony with other humans, animals, and the environment. Children's drawings are also integrated into the book. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
Review by Horn Book Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
