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This list was built from the contributions of librarians, educators, parents, and young readers. To add your suggestions and to comment on titles you see here, please write to Alison Clement or Bruce Jensen. We welcome any information you have on titles you suggest, such as age/reading level, publishers, and your thumbnail reviews or personal experiences with the books.
Every book its reader. Assigning age levels to books is an imprecise endeavor at best. We've labeled the English-language titles according to four rough age groups. Your mileage my vary, but PRE should be suitable for preschool and the beginning grades; ERL for kids in the early elementary grades; MID for preteens to early teens, and YA for young—and formerly young—adults. MID Ain't Gonna Study War No More: The Story of America's Peace Seekers Milton Meltzer YA All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque MIDAnd One For All Theresa Nelson YA Back the Attack! Remixed War Propaganda Micah Ian Wright PREBang, Bang, You're Dead Sandra Scoppetone ERLBaseball Saved Us Ken Mochizuki MIDThe Big Book for Peace Ann Durrell and Marilyn Sachs, editors MIDThe Blue Boy Martin Auer and Simone Klages PREBlue Jay in the Desert Marlene Shigekawa PREThe Bomb and the General Umberto Eco MID The Breadwinner Deborah Ellis PRE The Butter Battle Book Dr. Seuss YACatch-22 Joseph Heller YACat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut ERL The Cello of Mr. O Jane Cutler MIDThe Day the Earth Was Silent Michael McGuffee PRE Dear Ichiro Jean Davies Okimoto MID Echoes of War Robert Westall YA Ender's Game Orson Scott Card ERLFaithful Elephants Yukio Tsuchiya YA Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers PRE The Story of Ferdinand Munro Leaf MIDThe Fighting Ground Avi ERLThe Flame of Peace: A Tale of the Aztecs Deborah Lattimore YAThe Flash of Hiroshima (Hiroshima no pika) Toshi Maruki YA Forever Peace Joe Haldeman YAThe Forever War Joe Haldeman MIDThe Fragile Flag Jane Langton ERL Gandhi Demi MID
Gavriel and Jemal: Two Boys of Jerusalem Brent Ashabranner YAGeorge Johnson's War Maureen McCallum Garvie and Mary Beaty ERL Gleam and Glow Eve Bunting PRE Grandpa's Face Eloise Greenfield MID Habibi Naomi Shihab Nye ERL The Hat Faith and John Hubley PREHere Comes the Cat! Frank Asch and Vladimir Vagin PREHome of the Brave Allen Say MID I Dream of Peace: Images of War Children of the former Yugoslavia YAI Had Seen Castles Cynthia Rylant YAThe Incredible Tide Alexander Key PREIsland of the Skog Steven Kellogg PREIt's Mine! Leo Lionni YAJarhead Anthony Swofford MIDJohn Black's Body Ben Martin The complete 1939 edition published online YAJohnny Got His Gun Dalton Trumbo PREThe Knight and the Dragon Tomie DePaola MID The Last Flower: A Parable In Pictures James Thurber ERLThe Little Weaver of Thai-Yen Village Khanh Tuyet Tran YALord of the Flies William Golding ERLMagic Dogs of the Volcanoes Manlio Argueta PRE A Million Visions of Peace: Wisdom from the Friends of Old Turtle Jennifer Garrison and Andrew Tubesing PRE Mole Music David McPhail PREMouse Creeps Peter Harris MID My Hiroshima Junko Morimoto MID My Shalom, My Peace: Paintings and Poems by Jewish and Arab Children Jacob Zim, editor YA 1968 Joe Haldeman ERLOne and Seven Gianni Rodari YAOn the Beach Nevil Shute MIDOn the Wings of Peace Sheila. Hamanaka, editor MIDAn Outbreak of Peace Sarah Pirtle MID Parvanna's Journey Deborah Ellis ERL Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story Ken Mochizuki MIDPatrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam Walter Dean Myers MIDPeace and Bread: The Story of Jane Addams Stephanie Sammartino McPherson PREPeace Begins With You Katherine Scholes ERLPeace Crane Sheila Hamanaka PREPeace Is a Circle of Love Joan Walsh Anglund ERL Peace on the Playground: Nonviolent Ways of Problem-Solving Eileen Lucas MIDPeace Tales Margaret Read MacDonald YA People Power: A Look at Nonviolent Action and Defense Susan Neiburg Terkel YAA People's History of the United States Howard Zinn ERLThe Pig War Betty Baker YA The Pity of War Niall Ferguson ERLPink and Say Patricia Polacco MIDThe Princess and the Admiral Charlotte Pomerantz PRE Potatoes Potatoes Anita Lobel MIDThe Pushcart War Jean Merrill PRE Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale Marcus Pfister MIDRilla of Ingleside L.M. Montgomery MID The Road From Home: The Story of an Armenian Girl David Kherdian MID Rose Blanche Roberto Innocenti ERL The Roses In My Carpet Rukhsana Khan MIDRunning on Eggs Anna Levine MIDSadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes Eleanor Coerr ERLSami and the Time of the Troubles Judith Heide Gilliland and Florence Parry Heide MIDSamir and Yonatan Daniella Carmi MIDSearch for Peace: The Story of the United Nations William Jay Jacobs ERLThe Secret Grove Barbara Cohen MIDShattered: Stories of Children and War Jennifer Armstrong, editor ERL Shin's Tricycle Tatsuharu Kodama and Noriyuki Ando ERLThe Silence of the Mountains Liz Rosenberg PRESix Crows Leo Lionni YASlap Your Sides M.E. Kerr YASlaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut PRESomewhere Today: A Book of Peace Shelley Moore Thomas YAThe Space Between Our Footsteps: Poems and Paintings from the Middle East and North Africa Naomi Shihab Nye, editor MID A Special Fate: Chiune Sugihara: Hero of the Holocaust Alison Leslie Gold MIDStepping on the Cracks M. D. Hahn YA Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide Lorna Touryan Miller andDonald Eugene Miller MIDA Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle PRESwimmy Leo Lionni YA Talking Peace: A Vision for the Next Generation Jimmy Carter PREThe Three Astronauts Umberto Eco and Eugenio Carmi PREThe Tin Heart Karen Ackerman MIDTorn Thread Anne Isaacs PREThe True Story of the 3 Little Pigs/ By A. Wolf Jon Scieszka YATwenty-Four Eyes Sakae Tsuboi PREThe Upstairs Cat Karla Kuskin MID Voices From Vietnam Barry Denenberg ERLThe Wall Eve Bunting MIDThe War Anais Vaugelade PREWar and Peace Toni Goffe ERLWar and Peas Michael Foreman MIDWar and the Pity of War Neil Philip, editor ERL War Boy: A Country Childhood Michael Foreman YA War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning Chris Hedges YA The War Prayer Mark Twain YAWar Year Joe Haldeman YA What Every Person Should Know About War Chris Hedges YAWhen the Winds Blow Raymond Briggs PREWho's In Rabbit's House? Vera Aardema ERLWhy? Nikolai Popov YA Why Do They Hate Me? Young Lives Caught In War and Conflict Laurel Holliday ERL World War Won Dav Pilkey Out of print, but published here on Pilkey's website YA You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want! Micah Ian Wright ERL Young Peacemakers Project Book Kathleen Fry-Miller, Judith Myers-Walls YAZlata's Diary Zlata Filip A la diestra de Dios Padre Tomás Carrasquilla Así amaneció en Siboney y otros cuentos del Caribe Flor Romero Aventuras de Aitana en el Amazonas Flor Romero El barco sin capitán Nohra Puccini de Rosado Las batallas de Rosalino Triunfo Arciniegas El béisbol nos salvó Ken Mochizuki La Bolivariada Dora Castellanos El cuento de Ferdinando Munro Leaf Cañones y manzanas Adela Turin La Casa del abuelo y La Casa del Arco Iris Fanny Buitrago Catalino Bocachica Luis Darío Bernal Colombia, mi abuelo y yo Pilar Lozano Cuchilla de Evelio José Rosero Cuentos de Pombo Rafael Pombo La cueva de los 8 encantamientos Flor Romero El día que condoresa extravió su plumaje Flor Romero La Expedición Botánica contada a los niños Elisa Mujica Ferdinando Munro Leaf Guerra del chocolate Robert Cormier La Guaca y Guía de Literatura Infantil Rocío Velez de Piedrahíta Juan Sábalo Leopoldo Berdella de la Espriella Letras de paz UNEDA/UNESCO Un libro para soñar Flor Romero El mohan enamorado Flor Romero Noche de humo Eve Bunting Los perros mágicos de los volcanes Manlio Argueta Pink y Say Patricia Polacco ¿Por qué? Nikolai Popov Rosa Blanca Roberto Innocenti Sapo y el forastero Max Velthuijs Un pasito y otro pasito Tomie de Paola Verdadera historia de los 3 cerditos Jon Scieszka Zoro Jairo Anibal Niño Futari no Eda Miyoko Matsutani Hachigatsu ga Kurutabini Hide Oe Hiroshima no Pika Toshi Maruki Hiroshima no Uta Sukeyuki Imanishi Hotaru no Haka Akiyuki Nosaka ALSO AVAILABLE AS A SUBTITLED ANIMATED VIDEO + DVD Nijushi no Hitomi Sakae Tsuboi Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga 411 Marvel Comics THREE-VOLUME ANTHOLOGY DEBUTING SPRING 2003 Attitude: The New Subversive Policital Cartoonists Ted Rall, editor Fax From Sarajevo Joe Kubert GRAPHIC NOVEL Get Your War On David Rees The Great Big Book of Tomorrow: A Treasury of Cartoons Tom Tomorrow ERUDITE POLITICAL SATIRE The Little Tin-Pot General and the Old Iron Woman Raymond Briggs GRAPHIC NOVEL Maus: A Survivor's Tale Art Spiegelman HISTORICAL GRAPHIC NOVEL Maus II Art Spiegelman HISTORICAL GRAPHIC NOVEL Mutant Hanako Makoto Aida IN THE ANTHOLOGY SECRET COMICS JAPAN Notes From a Defeatist Joe Sacco GRAPHIC JOURNALISM Palestine: In the Gaza Strip Joe Sacco GRAPHIC JOURNALISM Peace Party Rob Schmidt COMIC BOOK SERIES Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 Joe Sacco GRAPHIC JOURNALISM 100 Picture Books for Peace—Mohawk Valley (NY) Library Association Books About Peace, Nonviolence, Tolerance—Skokie Public Library Books for Peace—PeaceQuest Foundation Books for Reducing Violence—National Council for the Social Studies Book Resources: Peacemakers—Cayuga Heights Elementary School Children's Peace Bibliography—Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
Militarism and the Arms Race—Appalachian Peace and Justice Network Peace Bibliography—Monroe County Public Library, Indiana Preschool Peace Curriculum materials list—Bluffton College Promoting Peace—Cary Memorial Library, Massachusetts
Trade Books for Reducing Violence—Ronald and Mary Banaszak
Atrium Society's Youth Peace Literacy Project Classroom Resources—Educating for Peace Institute for Peace and Justice War and Peace Literature for Children and Young Adults: A Resource Guide to Significant Issues Virginia Walter
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Latest revision: October 9, 2009
Bruce Jensen
Read Alison'scomments in USA Today
Scope: With few exceptions, every book in the English-language portion of this list involves war or its consequences. Much as we love many of the great children's books that address themes such as bullying and conflict resolution, we shaped this list around themes of war as waged by nations and other large violent groups. The most frequent exceptions are found among books for very young readers. Such books often deal with war through metaphors and parables; we feel there are many titles for this age group that, though not explicitly about war, are entirely consonant with the thrust of this list. Many excellent bibliographies are available that take a less strictly focused approach than ours. Their interpretation of peace themes makes room for positive messages of friendship, cooperation, and personal conflict resolution We have included links to several of those lists.
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