Children’s Books About Peace
Want to read about finding and living a life of peace? Teach your child the importance of kindness with these children’s books about peace.
Talking about the meaning of peace to kids can be difficult since it can highlight the opposite Struggle, cruelty, disagreements, and anything that isn’t peaceful.
Kids may not always understand why these true events happen. They get scared or don’t feel safe. They wonder if these tragedies can happen in their lives rather than in distant places or times past.
But they can understand peace better when we talk about it in ways they can relate to. We can teach them the importance of being kind and showing empathy to and acceptance of others. How anyone, no matter who, can make big changes.
And that the world is filled with people who can be different… but still similar as well.
Children’s books about peace
A few years ago, my son had an unlikely lesson about the concept of peace during one of his after-school science classes. As can happen with rambunctious kids, the conversations I overheard weren’t always about science.
At one point, a child blurted out his concerns about political issues. Maybe he’d heard his parents talk or caught bits of news on the television. Maybe he and his friends had been discussing it with one another at recess.
But the teacher gave an important reminder: “Don’t worry. The most important thing you can do is to be kind to your friends and those around you.”
Isn’t that true?
No matter how overwhelming the world can feel, living a life of peace goes right back to what we can do. The timeless message of peace is within ourselves, and the actions we show.
I hope you enjoy these selections of children’s books about peace.
They discuss conflict resolution and acts of kindness. You’ll meet famous peacemakers and Nobel Peace Prize winners. And each has a story of hope, from the true story of a child turning her passion into change, to how people can come together to rebuild broken communities.
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The Peace Tree from Hiroshima by Sandra Moore
What Does Peace Feel Like? by Vladimir Radunsky
Peas on Earth by Todd H. Doodler
Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin
Can You Say Peace? by Karen Katz
Painting for Peace in Ferguson by Carol Swartout Klein
Peace Is an Offering by Annette LeBox and Stephanie Graegin
Peace Week in Miss Fox’s Class by Eileen Spinelli
Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter
Paulie Pastrami Achieves World Peace by James Proimos
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson
A Child’s Garden by Michael Foreman
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi
A Little Peace (National Geographic) by Barbara Kerley
The Laughing River: A Folktale for Peace by Elizabeth H. Vega
The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story by Sandra Moore
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya by Donna Jo Napoli and Kadir Nelson
A Child’s Garden by Michael Foreman
The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq by Jeanette Winter
5 ways to teach kids about peace
The best way to teach kids about spreading a little peace is through our actions. Here are 5 ways we can show the importance of peace:
- Practice random acts of kindness: Encourage your child to think of fun ways to make others feel happy. Participate by doing random acts of kindness, whether to your loved ones or strangers. Better yet, catch him doing something nice and praise him for his kindness. (Get 35 ideas of random acts of kindness you can do for others.)
- Relish in simple pleasures: Peace is about finding joy within yourself and in simple pleasures in life. Rather than chasing bigger and better, appreciate the little things, like a quiet walk around the block or a delicious meal.
- Respect others: Show respect to others, regardless of who they are or how you may feel. It’s easy to get frustrated at customer service over a lost package or ignore people around you as you speed to the front of the grocery line. You can disagree or feel upset, but respect others regardless of the circumstances. (Check out these children’s books about respect.)
- Talk about people’s similarities: People develop a fear of others because they think they’re too different from them. But show him both how different the world is, yet how similar we all still are.
- Remind him that kids can make a big change: Is he afraid of world circumstances, feeling helpless about things he can’t control? Discuss things your family can do to make a difference. My son is passionate about the environment, so we now have a vegetable garden and compost our kitchen scraps. Another time, he thought the school breakfast was too high in sugar, so I encouraged him to write a letter to the principal.
Conclusion
Conflict and pain will always be part of our lives, from fights with friends to larger world issues that can feel overwhelming. But the more aware children can be about promoting peace and kindness to others, the better our world can be.
Read these next:
- 10 Best Children’s Books for Story Time
- 3 Meaningful Lessons All Moms of Boys Need to Teach
- Children’s Books about Being a Good Friend
- Children’s Books about Making the World a Better Place
- Top Children’s Books about Community
Free printables: Want even more suggestions for picture books for young readers? Join my newsletter and grab your copy of the Read Aloud Book List! You’ll get hundreds of favorite selections to read aloud with your kids. Get it below—at no cost to you:
