War and Peace
in Children's Literature
This bibliography was developed in response to numerous teacher requests for assistance with curriculum tie-in books, especially as related to tolerance. Thanks to all who suggested titles for this bibliography. I’m no longer taking bibliotherapy suggestions but would welcome those of curriculum-related books.
Note that some young readers will want books tied to current events while others will want escapist reading. Plus, any given reader may need one kind of book one day and a different kind on another. This section offers recommendations on these topics:
Related Links
- Afghanistan for Kids by Don and Alleen Nilsen, professors of English, Arizona State University; Cajsa Baldini, Web editor.
- America Responds from PBS offers resources for parents and educators. Parent pages offer ways to talk and family activities. Educator pages offer lesson plans and online resources.
- Asia for Kids: a first-rate catalog. They offer a number of books "to educate children and grown-ups about Islam, Muslim, Sihks etc." They also offer videos of Arab-Americans.
- Attack on the U.S.: Guidelines for Teachers by Richard Gallagher, Ph.D. from aboutourkids.org. A collection of talking points for teachers.
- Books for Military Children: annotated bibliography (with cover art) of more than fifty books portraying children with parents in the U.S. military. Divided by picture books, middle grade, teen, and teen/adult. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- Children's Books With Muslim and Related Cultural Themes from children's book author Rukhsana Khan.
- Helping Young Children Cope With Trauma from the American Red Cross. Also see this site for donation information.
- Japanese Americans in Children's Books: Relocation and Internment from CYALR. Bibliography of related books and links. May be useful for curriculum about tolerance related to recent events; offers historical perspective.
- Passport: International Children's Literature: "created from an United States perspective and defines international children's literature as anything outside of your borders."
- The Peace Page from children's author Uma Krishnaswami.
- Peace and Non-Violence Curriculum by Cecil Ramnaraine from the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse. Features extensive children's peace bibliography.
- Peace Study Center: "Our mission is to build a more peaceful world, one book at a time. By sharing quality literature with children, we will inspire them to resolve differences without violence and learn to appreciate diversity through educational experiences."
- Poetry Books for Young People about War and Peace from Sylvia Vardell at Poetry for Children. Note: scroll for bibliography.
- Statement from the Japanese American National Museum: Opinion Editorial — September 27, 2001. A reminder about the importance of tolerance during war time.
- War: a thematic bibliography of picture books, fiction, and non-fiction with specified age level from Claire Gross at The Horn Book.
- Weapons of Mass Instruction: Anti-War Books for Young People, which includes links to additional bibliographies.
This bibliography was compiled with the help of Janet Zarem, author Sara Jane Boyers, author Carol Flynn Hararis, author Katie Davis, author Annette Simon, Laura Tillotson of Book Links, Kathy Malu, Tracy van Straaten of Simon & Schuster, and M. Williams of Waterboro Public Library. We are temporarily bending our rule of listing only books we have reviewed ourselves to include some suggested by others in the children's literature community. Books we have read and reviewed ourselves are noted as such.
- What's Here
- Why It's Here
- The Right to Read
- Bibliographies
- Authors & Illustrators
- CYALR Interviews
- Abbott to Aston
- Bajaj to Bertand
- Billingsley to Bray
- Broach to Byrd
- Caine to Cheaney
- Chima to Crum
- Davis to Dyson
- Edwards to Friedman
- Gallagher to Guzman
- Hacker to Hemphill
- Henson to Howard
- Jacobs to King
- Klause to Kvasnosky
- LaFevers to Levine
- Levithan to Lyga
- MacCready to Mayes
- Mazer to Myracle
- Na to Ostow
- Papademetriou to Prineas
- Rabb to Ryan
- Salisbury to Slade
- Smith to Swanson
- Tagdell to Vogel
- Watt to Wynne-Jones
- Yansky to Zimmer
- Cynsations Guest Posts
- On the Web
- Texas Authors & Illustrators, A-K
- Texas Authors & Illustrators, L-Z
- CYALR Interviews
- Reading Overview
- Book Awards
- Favorite Reads
- Diverse Reads
Book Sources
Featured books were sent by authors, publicists and/or publishers or purchased by the site owner.
CYALR Interviews
Resources by TITLE
Lee Bennett Hopkins on AMERICA AT WAR- Marina Budhos on ASK ME NO QUESTIONS
- Suzanne Morgan Williams on BULL RIDER
- Joseph Bruchac on CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES OF WORLD WAR II
- Shutta Crum on THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE
- J.B. Cheaney on MY FRIEND THE ENEMY
- Kathy Whitehead on LOOKING FOR UNCLE LOUIE ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
- N.H. Senzai on SHOOTING KABUL
- Jean Gralley on THE MOON CAME DOWN ON MILK STREET
- Marc Aronson on THE REAL REVOLUTION: THE GLOBAL STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
Featured AUTHORS
- An Interview with
Haemi Balgassi - An Interview with
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand - An Interview with
Katie Davis - An Interview with
Annette Curtis Klause - An Interview with
Jane Kurtz