The children of the world today live in a culture of violence. Some of them actually dodge rocks and bullets in war-torn regions of the world; others are barricaded in comfortable homes where they bombard themselves with the sounds and images of guns, war, and violence on television and in the games they play. In recent years there have also been an increasing number of picture books that deal with violent subject matter as means to cry out, either directly or indirectly, for a more caring, nonviolent world. These picture books make powerful statements, but they also raise important questions.
In addition to the bibliography of children's picture books, a number of resources for parents, librarians and teachers to use in fostering a non-violent culture beginning with our children is provided in an additional webpage.
Students will find that examining Notes for the Analysis of a Picture Book will be useful.
It would prove helpful to read Chapter One from Ghosts from the Nursery : Tracing the Roots of Violence, by Robin Karr-Morse; Meredith S. Wiley; T. Berry Brazelton.
Briggs, Raymond. When the Wind Blows. New York: Schocken Books, 1982.
Bunting, Eve. The Blue and the Gray. Illus. by Ned Bittinger. New York: Scholastic, 1996.
Bunting, Eve. Smoky Night. Illus. by David Diaz. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Co., 1994.
Bunting, Eve. The Wall. Illus. by Ronald Himler. New York: Clarion, 1990.
Emberley, Barbara. Drummer Hoff. Illus. by Ed Emberley. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
Fitzhugh, Louise and Sandra Scoppettone. Bang, Bang, You're Dead. Illus. by Louise Fitzhugh. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.
Garland, Sherry. I Never Knew Your Name. Illus. by Sheldon Greenberg. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994.
Innocenti, Roberto. Rose Blanche. Text by Christophe Gallaz, Trans. by Martha Coventry and Richard Graglia. MN : Creative Education, 1985.
Isaac, John (Photographer)and Keith Elliot Greenberg. Bosnia : Civil War in Europe (Children in Crisis) Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1997.
Kavel, Paul. I Can Make My World a Safer Place: A Kid's Book About Stopping Violence. Illus. by Nancy Gorrell. Hunter House, 2001.
Lamb, Nancy and the Children of Oklahoma City. One April Morning: Children Remember the Oklahoma City Bombing. Illus. by Floyd Cooper. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1996.
Leaf, Munro. The Story of Ferdinand. Illus. by Robert Lawson. New York: Viking Press, 1936.
Lobel, Anita. Potatoes, Potatoes. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.
Lorbiecki, Marybeth. Just One Flick of a Finger. Illus. by David Diaz. New York: Dial, 1996.
Maruki, Toshi. Hiroshima No Pika. New York: William Morrow, 1982.
Morimoto, Junko. My Hiroshima. New York: Viking/Penguin, 1990. [First published in Australia by William Collins Pty. Ltd, 1987.]
** Philip, Neil, Ed. War and the Pity of War. Illus. by Michael McCurdy. New York: Clarion, 1998.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. New York: Philomel Books, 1994.
Robb, Laura, Comp. Music and Drum: Voices of War and Peace, Hope and Dreams. Illus. by Debra Lill. New York: Philomel, 1997.
Seuss, Dr. The Butter Battle Book. New York: Random House, 1984.
Volavkova, Hana, Ed. I Never Saw Another Butterfly : Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944. U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Chaim Potok (Designer) Expanded 2nd edition. New York: Pantheon Books, 1993.
Wondriska, William. The Tomato Patch. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964.
**Indicates this is not a picture book.