I am currently writing an article about using picture books with readers of all ages to talk about war, displacement and refugees.
I am only able to include a few books in the article and this is one book that I love but that I have not included in the article as I think not all grown ups would want their little readers to access this book.
WAR is an incredibly powerful picture for use perhaps with children in upper KS2 and definitely with children in KS3 and beyond.
With surreal illustrations and sparse prose this stunning book is dark and sinister. It is a brilliant illustration of the many sides of war, where it comes from, how it creeps up on us and how it destroys everything in its wake.
This has been an important book for me to share with William, age 11, who enjoys reading about military history. He enjoys learning about politics and power, battle commanders and military strategies for sieges, invasions and battles on land and sea.
This book helps me to show him that there is nothing good about war. Though it is fascinating to learn about sadly conflicts are not confined to the past, genocide is not only a thing of days gone by and persecution is not something that only happens in history books.
With this book I have been able to begin and sustain a dialogue with William about what war means for the people involved, the innocent men, women and children caught up in the political conflicts and power struggles of others.
It has given him a sense of how terrifying war is and how destructive it can be.
It has made us both stop and think, really think about the causes and consequences of war.
This is not an easy book to read but it is a book that should be shared with those older children who want to better understand the nature and impact of war.
“We know that children are the greatest victims of any modern war, as such they have a stake in the issue and children even in our overtly safe societies, are exposed to war in all kinds of ways without being given a safe context in which to discuss it. As Deborah Ellis, author of the Breadwinner series says, ‘If children are old enough to be bombed, they are old enough to read about it.’”
From the cover of War