December’s Book of the Month

One of the most powerful tools in the promotion of peace is education. Education can promote the values of tolerance, mutual understanding, and respect for others. It can unlock the peace that lies in our hearts.

– Richard H. Solomon, President of the United States Institute of Peace

A Little Peace is a visually stunning book with an important message. The spare, refreshing text winds its way around and through full-color photographs. Each vividly captures the universal emotions and peaceful pursuits of everyday people around the world: a young girl in Kenya smiling into a mirror; a group of waving schoolchildren in Bali; two old men relaxing in a marketplace in Afghanistan.”

About the Author
Barbara Kerley is a former Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal and now lives in northern California with her husband and daughter. She wrote this book with a conviction that we each can make a difference: “I believe that peace doesn’t just rest in the hands of politicians and world leaders. We all have the power to make the world more peaceful.”

Here are some ways you could discuss this book at home:

1. Check out resources from Barbara Kerley’s Website:

Discuss ways in which people can spread a little peace. Activities might include saying hello to a new student at school or child in the neighborhood, volunteering in a community group, or reading a book about a culture different than your own. Then, ask children to make Peace Posters of different ways to spread a little peace.
Discuss how learning about other cultures can promote tolerance and peace. Then enjoy this National Geographic’s education website. It has lots of resources and lesson for students and adults.

2. Read an Interview with Barbara Kerley.

3. Create Peace Poems and Picasso Doves (activity for 3-5)

4.Check out United States Institute of Peace

5.Check out Peace Corps Website

6.Recite this Peace Pledge