Helping Children Think about Peace: Children's Books That Promote Peace Using a Literature Cluster
Gail Goss

Regular Features
Focus IBBY

Where Do I Begin? o IBBY Worldwide-Travel Impressions of the IBBY President o Don't Read This! ' Hans A. Halbey in Memoriam o IBBY Honour List o Books for Africa

Reading Promotion: War and Peace in European Children's Literature: A European Comenius Project
Annemie Leysen

Author Spotlight: First Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Christine Nostlinger and Maurice Sendak
Eva-Maria Metcalf

International Children's Books of Note

Professional Literature

News and Announcements

Dear Bookbird Reader,
Tayo Shima, past president of the International Board on Books for Young People, writes in the introduction to the reissue of Jella Lepman's A Bridge of Children's Books (Dublin: The O'Brien Press, 2002): "This book, which recounts how the energies of children contributed to the rehabilitation of a society that had experienced terrible oppression and a devastating war, is a chronicle of human society that can give us hope and inspiration for the challenges we face" (6). Further she notes that, "Today, the survival of millions of children all over the world is in the balance, just as it was fifty years ago..." (7). The theme of this issue, "War and Peace in Children's Literature," pays tribute to Lep-man's legacy and acknowledges the relevance of her work in our contemporary world. Readers need only to scan the headlines of newspapers around the globe, or watch the televised news reports to recognize that war affects millions of children today.

We have approached this theme from multiple perspectives with articles representing many countries. In thinking about this issue, we posed questions such as: How are war and peace portrayed in children's literature globally? What have been children's roles in these events? What are child characters' responses to political conditions around them? How have their lives been affected by such experiences? How are themes of war and/or peace manifested in different genres of literature? How can children's literature further peace and understanding of others and lessen the likelihood of violence and war in the future?

In "'Hello, Dear Enemy!': Education for Peace with Picture Books," Barbara Scharioth, Director of the International Youth Library in Munich that Jella Lepman founded, describes the development of the picture book exhibition "Hello, Dear Enemy!," which features books from nineteen countries. The exhibit is touring throughout Europe and has traveled to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan, and the United States. Weimin Mo's "Sanmao: The Humor of Resilient Innocence" analyzes the character of Sanmao, the well-known fictional Chinese child soldier. By focusing on various images from the children's book Sanmao Cong ]un ]i, illustrated by Zhang Leping (Sanmao, the soldier; Shanghai: Shaonian Ertong Chubanshe, 2002), Mo explores the "impact of different aspects of war on Sanmao."

John Foster compares the treatment of the battle of Gallipoli in 1915 in two children's books, one written by a Turkish author and the other by an Australian. This incident, which occurred during World War I and involved the invasion of Turkey by Australian and New Zealand troops, has become a legend in these two countries. World War II is the focus of Catherine Senje's article as she discusses the work of two Norwegian authors, Grete Haagenrud and Alf Kvasbe, who base their writing for children on their own wartime memories. The article by Gail Goss shares a cluster of children's books with the theme of war's effects and discusses ways to encourage children to think about peace.

Our regular Bookbird features include Focus IBBY and International Children's Books of Note, the latter focusing on this issue's theme of "War and Peace." The Professional Literature column is the first one written by Barbara Scharioth and her team at the International Youth Library. The Author Spotlight column highlights the recipients of the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, created by the Swedish government to honor the beloved author, to "further children's literature" and, "in Lindgren's spirit, children's rights around the world." The first award was presented to Christine Nostlinger of Germany and Maurice Sendak of the United States. The Reading Promotion column supports the issue's theme as it describes a European Comenius Project on War and Peace in European Children's Literature.

We hope the provocative articles in this issue will provide opportunity for reflection and discussion of how war and peace are portrayed in children's literature and how children's literature can serve to promote peace throughout the world. Jella Lepman's vision of promoting peace and global understanding through children's literature resonates today as urgently as it did more than fifty years ago.

The Bookbird Editors:

Evelyn B. Freeman, Barbara A. Lehman,
Lilia Ratcheva-Stratieva, Patricia L. Scharer

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