The Big Book For Peace

(Durell, Ann, Marilyn Sachs, Lloyd Alexander, and Jon Agee. The Big book for peace . New York: E.P. Dutton Children's Books, 1990. Print.)

Summary: The Big book for peace is a compilation of seventeen stories and poems which work together to promote peace. Thought up as a rebuttal to children’s books which glorified battles and wars, it presents a profile of how and where peace can be found on this messy and often violent world.

Reading Level: Ages 9 -12.

5 Key words/phrases:

    1. Peace

    2. Literary Collection

    3. Concentration camps

    4. Fighting

    5. Nature

Suggested Delivery: Individual

Electronic Resources:

1.      Kids for Peace: This website supports the ideas and ideals presented in this book.
2.      World Peace Passport: This website provides curriculum and ideas for teaching about peace in the classroom.

Teaching Suggestions:

Key Vocabulary: campaign, lobbying, League of Five Nations, Executive order, Quaker, Military court, Petitions

Reading strategies to increase comprehension:

         Before: Introduce to the students why the book was written Explain the ideas of peace versus war and fighting and have them read the introduction in the beginning of the book to help build understanding for the purpose of the book and the greater purpose each individual story or poem is building to.

         During: For each individual poem or story that the student reads, have them identify the main characters, the structure of the written piece (poem or story and type of poem or story), reflect on how the illustrations effect and shape your understanding of the story and identify at least three actions relating to peace that occur in the poem or story.

         After: After the student reads each story or poem, have students reflect on how peace was achieved or represented. How do the actions taken in these stories bring about or represent peace? Were there aspects of violence or war in the story or poem? How was peace discovered or kept even in these types of situations? Would the story or poems’ suggestion for peace work and be implemented in the reader’s life or in the world as a whole?

Writing activity demonstrating inferential comprehension:

After reading two of the stories compare the themes, characters, and ideas they present about peace. How are they similar, different? Which story or poems’ message about peace do you like more? Why?