Global Conflict – Book Review

Book Review
Children in our World: Global Conflict
Written by Louise Spilsbury
Illustrated by Hanane Kai
Published in 2018

Review
The Children in our World series does an excellent job of explaining the reality of serious problems without scaring children. Global Conflict addresses the causes and consequences of war. Topics range from "People in conflict" to "What is terrorism?" to "Ending conflicts." Readers are reassured that war in their hometowns is unlikely, and they are encouraged to talk to their parents or other trusted adults about their concerns. Spilsbury and Kai depict the gravity of war in ways appropriate to school-age children, and the cat from the other books makes several appearances again, providing a comfort to readers of this distressing topic.

I have read Refugees and Migrants and Racism and Intolerance from this series with T. They have helped to answer specific questions he has had. T has also asked about war, but Global Conflict is beyond his level. We read a few sections in this book; he was glad to see the cat again, and he loved hearing about how diplomats help people solve problems with words instead of fighting. In fact, he really latched onto the concept of diplomacy. For several weeks after we read about diplomats, he was determined to be a diplomat when he grew up, and he used calm words to resolve disagreements. I recommend Global Conflict for older children (school age) or as a resource to parents of younger children. This is a book I have no doubt we will revisit as T grows and has more questions.

Note: I received a review copy in exchange for an honest review.