18 Mar / Peace is an Offering by Annette LeBox, illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
“Peace is an offering. / A muffin or a peach” proffered from one sibling to another who sits in bed, casted and bandaged, missing the fun adventures happening just outside his window. Peace is a trip to the beach, enjoying ice cream under an oversized striped umbrella, or just quietly gathering the slowly falling leaves of a golden tree.
Peace is as simple as gratitude, a kiss, “a bowl of hot stew.” Peace is offered in questions, from “Will you be my friend?” to “Will you sing to the sun to dry my tears?” to “Will you give me shelter when I’ve lost my home?”
Peace is there “even in the wake of tragedy,” with evocations of 9/11’s heroes and lost friends both. And in those times of shock and sadness, “Peace is a joining, not a pulling apart. / It’s the courage to bear a wounded heart.” Peace thrives in freedom without fear. Peace is as simple as “offer[ing] a cookie,” as wise as “walk[ing] away from a fight,” as loving as “comfort[ing] a friend / Through the long, dark night.”
If childhood always resonated with Annette LeBox’s gentle verses, and invitingly resembled Stephanie Graegin’s multi-culti world, who would ever want to grow up? And even if the book is printed with “Dial Books for Young Readers,” no reason for us old folks not to give this precious little charmer a regular perusal, too. Regardless of age, in our hurry-up, don’t-look-back, gotta-do-one-more-thing, so-called modern world, LeBox and Graegin remind us all to practice peace: to slow down, be kind, and enjoy the innumerable little gifts that constantly come our way.
Readers: Children
Published: 2015