It's a Small World in Joan Walsh Anglund's Peace Is a Circle of Love

I've been enjoying the books of Joan Walsh Anglund over the past couple months, and of all the volumes I've read thus far, I think my favorite is Peace Is a Circle of Love, published in 1993. Like several of her poetry books, it is a tiny gift book about 50 percent taller than it is wide. Unlike those books, it is in full color, with vibrant illustrations of children on each page that create a tapestry of human cooperation reminiscent of the iconic Disney ride it's a small world.

The book is very much on the short side. Aside from the first page, which is on the right-hand side and includes text and illustration on the same page, the pictures are on the right and the words are on the left. There are 25 pages in all, just 13 pictures, plus those on the title and cover pages. While Anglund does not mention any specific nationalities, the children are dressed in culturally distinct garb.

In the first picture, a little girl in buckskin releases a bird, which flies off in jubilation. The final page bookends this moment as she and three others watch a dove traverse the sky as the sun sets behind it. Other pages show several children together or sometimes just a pair, always engaged in peaceable activities. A Scandinavian girl and a child from Thailand share a flower; a procession of seven children from a variety of backgrounds meanders down the road, holding candles. Other heartening symbols include a rainbow, a tree and a hug.

Anglund varies the skin tone to accentuate the ethnic differences, but even the darkest-skinned children retain her easily recognizable rosy cheeks. Small, round black eyes and no noses are other features typical of Anglund's style that present themselves here. She makes full use of color, giving each child a distinctive outfit, from the little German boy in green lederhosen and a feathered cap to the Hasidic Jew all in black. The rose-covered kimono of the Japanese girl is lovely, as is the flag-print dress that the American girl proudly sports.

All but two of the sentences in the book begin with the words "Peace is." Another starts "Peace means," and the final sentence breaks from the pattern to allude to the classic anthem Let There Be Peace on Earth. The writing style is minimalist, but it works for this simple book about seeking harmony. Of the 15 statements describing the nature of peace, I think my favorite is, "Peace is letting go of old angers and building new dreams together," which accompanies a drawing of two children planting a garden together.

The image of the two children with a rainbow behind them appears twice in the book; it's the same two kids, and the accompanying text is virtually identical. I presume that the reason for this is to give the book more of a circular feel, but if that is the case, the first appearance of the rainbow should have been the second illustration in the book rather than the third. In either case, I think it would have been more interesting to include an entirely different image toward the end. Still, it works as it is.

While the world is a much more complicated and contentious place than what is reflected in this book, Anglund is presenting an ideal, and in referring to "the children of the world" as "our teachers of peace," she emphasizes the value in letting these charitable attitudes take root in the very young and allowing them to demonstrate how harmonious our associations with each other can be if we seek common ground and celebrate differences rather than fearing them.