Peace Be With Us Booklist
This booklist has been prepared by the Children's Staff of the Berkeley Public Library for the Berkeley Unified School District for use in their February 5th and 6th 2003 "Days of Peace" Teach-In. These picturebooks have been selected as good read-alouds for grades K-5. They include fantasy, folklore and fiction; most are more suited for older listeners than for the very young. They have been picked for their value in sparking discussion on the themes of peace, conflict, and conflict resolution, or in introducing the peoples and cultures of the Middle East. We invite you to contact the Berkeley Public Library for more suggestions for titles for young readers, (510) 981-6223.
| Call Number | Author | Title |
| Fiction Bunting, E | Bunting, Eve | Gleam and Glow. (2001) |
| After his home is destroyed by war, eight-year-old Viktor finds hope in the survival of two very special fish. | ||
| Fiction Bunting, E | Bunting, Eve | Smoky Night. (1994) |
| When the Los Angeles riots break out in the streets of their neighborhood, a young boy and his mother learn the value of getting along with others no matter what their background or nationality. | ||
| P Heide, F | Heide, Florence Parry, and Judith Heide Gilliland | The Day of Ahmed's Secret. (1990) |
| All day long Ahmed carries his secret with him as he goes about his business, until he can share it with his family at night. | ||
| Fiction Heide, F | Heide, Florence Parry, and Judith Heide Gilliland. | Sami and the Time of the Troubles. (1992) |
| A ten-year-old Lebanese boy goes to school, helps his mother with chores, plays with his friends, and lives with his family in a basement shelter when bombings occur and fighting begins on his street. | ||
| 398.2 H528g | Hickox, Rebecca | The Golden Sandal: A Middle Eastern Cinderella. (1998) |
| An Iraqi version of the Cinderella story in which a kind and beautiful girl who is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsister finds a husband with the help of a magic fish. | ||
| Fiction Matze, C | Matze, Clare Sidhom | The Stars in My Geddoh's Sky. (1999) |
| Alex's Arabic-speaking grandfather comes to visit the United States and Alex learns about his grandfather's Middle Eastern homeland. | ||
| Fiction Nye, N | Nye, Naomi Shihab | Sitti's Secrets. (1994) |
| A young girl describes a visit to see her grandmother in a Palestinian village on the West Bank and discovers human connections and family traditions that defy distance and time. | ||
| Fiction Oppenheim, S | Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey | Ali and the Magic Stew. (2002) |
| Guided by a beggar he often shunned, a young, spoiled boy in Persia must quickly collect ingredients for a healing stew to make for his dying father. | ||
| P Seuss | Seuss, Dr | The Butter Battle Book. (1984) |
| Engaged in a long-running battle, the Yooks and the Zooks develop more and more sophisticated weaponry as they attempt to outdo each other. | ||
| 398.2 Sh47f | Shepard, Aaron | Forty Fortunes: A Tale of Iran. (1999) |
| A well-intentioned fortune-telling peasant unwittingly tricks a band of local thieves into returning the king's stolen treasure. | ||
Local Organizations Working Towards Peace |
| The Berkeley Public Library's Berkeley Information Network (BIN) lists over 3400 local organizations, agencies, non-profits and clubs. Check for online access to a variety of local resources, including Athletes United for Peace, Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace, Arab World and Islamic Resources and School Services, Veteran's Speakers Alliance, Middle East Children's Alliance, and more. |
Web Sites |
| Children of Conflict www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/childrensrights/childrenofconflict Children caught in a war zone in different parts of the world are the topic of this site. Their stories are told in brief articles, with letters and quotations from many children in their own voices and in many languages, using Real Audio. There are numerous links to further information in every topic. A project of the BBC World Service. |
| Guardians of the Millenium www.theguardians.com/ The Peace in Space Knowledge Adventure was produced in association with the United Nations Office of Outer Space and in cooperation with the European Space Agency. Students have created their visions of living and working in space through international cooperation online, with a space station simulation and a Mars rover simulation. This site also features space games and a teacher's area. |
| The Nobel e-Museum http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/ The official website of the Nobel Foundation gives information about all Nobel Prize Laureates in Peace and some articles written by them. |
| Towards a Culture of Peace http://www3.unesco.org/iycp Peace is in our hands! UNESCO's Culture of Peace Project aims to promote values, attitudes and behaviors that will lead people to seek peaceful solutions to problems. |
| United Nations CyberSchoolBus www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/index.html This website offers various resources for the UN Global Teaching and Learning Project. It includes games at various levels and a Peace Unit, available in 6 languages. |
Want to get your hands on one of these books? Check the Berkeley Public Library catalog to see where you can get a copy!
