Glass sculpting

Fire into Ice: Adventures in Glass Making
by James Houston



Artist James Houston lived in the Canadian Arctic for many years. While there, he learned about bone and ivory carving and taught block and stencil printing. Houston agreed to leave the Arctic and move to New York City, where he was asked to design glass. Houston's love of the Arctic shine through in the ethereal glass sculptures he created. He likens the sound of glass to the cracking of ice on a northern lake.

Eloquent and imaginative, you'll want to seek out Houston's glass sculptures in galleries around the world.

Inuit art

Stones, Bones and Stitches: Storytelling through Inuit Art
by Shelley Falconer and Shawna White


Written by former curators of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, this book is a respectful introduction to the work of six Inuit artists. Each profile consists of a brief biography, a discussion of a particular work (carving, print, or tapestry), its meaning, and the history of the region.

The text is informative, though a bit dry. Readers interested in artistic method should find it absorbing, while others will be happy just looking at the pictures.

Inuit artists

Arctic Adventures: Tales from the Lives of Inuit Artists
by Raquel Rivera
illustrated by Jirina Marton


Life in the arctic is full of beauty, danger, magic, and endurance. These qualities are apparent in the stories. Thus, Pudlo Pudlat watches as his young nephew drifts away on an ice floe, Kenojuak Ashevak has a close encounter with the sea goddess Talelayu, Jessie Oonark and her daughter battle starvation, and Lazarusie Ishulutak comes face to face with a polar bear.

Each artist's experiences are reflected in his/her prints and sculptures. The combination of story and biography form a good introduction to Inuit culture, and enhance young readers' understanding of Inuit art.

Peacemakers

Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World
by Jane Breskin Zalben


Sixteen individuals who have worked to improve the lives of others are profiled in this attractive-looking book. They include writers, philosophers, Civil Rights advocates, and politicians, many of whom were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. One-page summaries of each person's accomplishments are prefaced by a full-page illustration and inspiring quote, surrounded by beautiful borders made from fabric, etchings, watercolor, and found objects. Zalben's endnotes explain the various symbols and materials expressed in her pictures and how she hoped to interpret each person's character and his/her approach to life. Thus a delicate pond symbolizes Ralph Waldo Emerson's influence on Thoreau, a desert rose depicts the blooming passions of Eleanor Roosevelt, and textiles from Southeast Asia decorate the pages for Aung San Suu Kyi.

A bibliography, further readings and a list of resources encourage more research; the only things missing are actual photographs of the peacemakers themselves.

Conflict resolution

We Can Work It Out: Conflict Resolution for Children
by Barbara K. Polland, Ph.D.


Polland, a psychotherapist, has designed this book as a series of questions designed to foster discussion between parents and children. It addresses common conflicts that arise between children and encourages them to talk about their feelings. Further questions help them think about possible resolutions.

Polland's book is a good tool for helping children acquire independent problem-solving skills without parents having to resort to overly critical or disciplinary methods.





Tired of Yelling: Teaching Our Children to Resolve Conflict
by Lyndon D. Waugh, M.D.


Family psychiatrist Waugh's fifteen-step conflict resolution model may sound complicated, but as you read through his solutions, you realize how practical and doable it really is. Divided into three parts with five steps each, they are: thinking steps, talk/listen steps, and solving steps. The thinking steps help in assessing emotions, gauging their intensity, and learning to recognize the real problem, the talk/listen steps help in the appropriate expression of feelings and in understanding another's point-of-view, while the solving steps help in brainstorming solutions. 

Waugh understands the obstacles parents may need to overcome before his method can be attempted. He suggests strategies for dealing with defensiveness, skepticism, and noncompliance, before tackling the conflict resolution skills addressed to four different age groups: infants to preschoolers, elementary-school-age children, preteens, and teens. He also discusses how his method may be used by adults, and shines a light on how attitudes about anger and conflict patterns are formed from childhood onwards. It really helps in gaining insight into our own behaviours and finding more appropriate ways to express them.

Waugh's conflict resolution model can be used by the whole family for a more peaceful and tranquil home. Highly recommended.

Make sense of conflict

Why Do We Fight? Conflict, War, and Peace
by Niki Walker


Battles, protests, standoffs, strikes. We hear about them all the time. On the surface, a battle and a protest don't seem to have much in common, but both are conflicts. Whether they're happening on the news, in the home, or at school, conflicts are part of life. But what turns a conflict into a war? 

Niki Walker does an excellent job of breaking down the basics of conflict in concise, unbiased prose that is easy for children to understand. She examines the reasons why we fight - for land, power, resources, equality, security - and what happens when these conflicts can't be resolved. She ends with a look at the peace process, and how factors like information sources, perspective, and propaganda can affect outcomes.

Walker's book deserves a place in every school or home library. It not only informs readers, it gives them the tools to critically evaluate global conflicts and world events, and encourages them to keep an open mind. There may be no way to avoid conflict, but respecting others' beliefs may ensure a lasting peace.

Child soldier tells his story

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

by Ishmael Beah

Teens raised on video games, action movies, and reality t.v. may think of war as rather exciting. Ishmael Beah's friends thought it was cool. 

But it's not so cool when you're twelve years old and your family's just been killed. And it's not so cool trying to survive alone in a forest for over a month. Frightened and desperate, Beah was unwillingly recruited by his government's army. Being a soldier meant fleeing from fearful villagers, seeing rivers washed with blood, and bodies dismembered by bullets and machetes.

That Beah survived at all is a miracle, and his rehabilitation even more so. The sight of a UNICEF man cowering under a table while the boy soldiers fight each other would be very funny if it weren’t so awful. Having seen so much, these children can't be treated as children any more. They're dangerous young adults, brainwashed to kill.

Beah's story is an extraordinary one, told with great honesty and courage. An important must-read that is highly recommended.

Child victims of war

When Elephants Fight

by Eric Walters & Adrian Bradbury

When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. 

A Kenyan proverb; its meaning is simple: when the large fight, it is the small who suffer the most. Regardless of which elephant wins or loses, the grass beneath their feet will always be destroyed.

Children are the grass whose lives have been irrevocably altered because of war. This book tells the story of five such children - Farooq, Nadja, Annu, Toma, and Jimmy. They come from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda.  Along with their stories, the book offers an analysis of the history, geography, and political issues that have brought about aggression and conflict.

Bleak, yet hopeful, this is a good book that reminds us of the reasons for peace.

When your parent is a soldier

Off to War: Voices of Soldiers' Children
by Deborah Ellis

For Off to War, Deborah Ellis interviewed children of American and Canadian soldiers. They reveal what life is like when their parents are called away to fight. 

Each chapter begins with a brief summary of some of the issues that military families face – frequent moves, lack of communication, mental health problems. These introductions offer valuable insight and serve as a starting point for the voices that follow. Intelligent, confused, funny, loyal, angry or fearful, the children accept their parents’ job choices and their country’s choices, but are frustrated at the misunderstandings other people have about them. Above all, they just want to be a kid. 

Ellis' book serves as a good reminder that war touches many lives.

Letters from a teen soldier

Hold the Oxo! A Teenage Soldier Writes Home

by Marion Fargey Brooker

Seventeen-year-old Canadian Jim Fargey was one of among 20,000 underage soldiers who went off to war in 1915. His letters home were carefully saved by his mother and excerpts are presented here by the author, who was Jim Fargey’s niece. 

Jim often thinks about home, harvests, livestock, and the socks he regularly receives in the mail. He rarely mentions the fighting. But in between the letters, Brooker puts the war in historical context, describing the weapons, the battles, and life in the trenches.

Most affecting are the letters of sympathy to Fargey’s mother, written by a nurse, a chaplain, and a comrade. It's a fitting remembrance of one soldier’s sacrifice. 

D-Day

On Juno Beach: Canada's D-Day Heroes
by Hugh Brewster

On June 6, 1944, Canadians soldiers helped liberate France and Europe from Adolf Hitler’s grip. This outstanding book tells the story of the D-Day landings and the massive invasion that followed. The stories are brought to life through eyewitness accounts, historical photographs, and memorabilia. Readers will come away with a good idea of what D-Day was really like, and why it is important to remember.

Canada at war

The Kids Book of Canada at War
by Elizabeth MacLeod


Canadians have fought in many wars, both in Canada and abroad. The Kids Book of Canada at War looks at the earliest battles between our First Nations and European conquerors, the conflicts between the French and English resulting in the Acadian explusion, the War of 1812, and the Métis Rebellions. It also summarizes the key battles of World Wars I and II, and the lesser known South African and Korean conflicts. The book ends with our country's role in peacekeeping and international aid.

Filled with profiles of heroic soldiers, descriptions of weapons technology, and first-person accounts, the book provides a clear, comprehensive overview of Canadians at war. 





Canada's Wars: An Illustrated History
by Jonathan Webb


An even more comprehensive book about Canada's participation in war, Canada's Wars is a detailed look at wars ranging from the Boer War of 1884 up to the war in Afghanistan. Each chapter provides an overview of the wars themselves and how Canada became involved. Through vivid photographs, artwork, and staggering statistics about the men and women who have served in combat, what emerges is a fascinating story of Canada's growth as an independent nation. As well, an examination of Canada's roles in peacekeeping reveal the depth of Canadian bravery and commitment.

An excellent book; it leaves readers with a strong appreciation for all Canadians who have gone to war.