One Peace

February 1, 2009
Gr 4-8-The stories of young people who have been refugees from war, injured by land mines, or learned about the consequences of violence through other means are interspersed with children's poems, quotes, artwork, and photographs. The brief, powerful accounts document how these children ages 8 to 15 worked for or became symbols of peace. Most of them work with or have founded peace organizations to help spread their message. Wilson includes several of her own symbolic portraits of young peacemakers. This book won't give children an understanding of why wars are fought, but it's an impressive effort to cover a subject that doesn't get much attention, and it makes a good starting point for inspiring students to try projects of their own."Rebecca Donnelly, Loma Colorado Public Library, Rio Rancho, NM"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2009
Grades 4-7 My siblings are dead / I cry and cry, / Nobody cares why. With photos, paintings, poetry, and quotes by and about children caught up in recent wars, from Cambodia to Liberia, each double-page spread in this picture book for older readers is a passionate call for peace, the end of suffering, and the need for change. Some of Wilsons original art has the feel of a too-sweet greeting card, and the images are particularly jarring when juxtaposed with the horrifying facts about children killed, traumatized, blown up by land mines, and displaced. Hope appears in the calls of young activists in North America and across the globe: the worst thing we can do is not do anything. Famous peacemakers are quoted, too, including Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Kofi Annan. Browsing the pages, readers will be caught by the personal vignettes, from the poem by a girl in Ireland to the photo of a terrified toddler sheltering from rocket fire in a Chechnya basement. Add this to the titles in the Core Collection feature Peace, Not War in the November 1, 2006, issue of Booklist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
This is a potentially inspiring book about the desire for peace and the power of activism. However, the often-confusing writing and layout and lack of sufficient context make it hard for the messages to get through. The anecdotes about real children who made a difference, in addition to some of their writing and quotations, are compelling, as are the photographs.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)