The First Day of Peace

Praise

One brave act of kindness can be a catalyst for peace. . . . Shuster and Soetoro-Ng present the lesson of the golden rule in, fittingly, the form of a parable.
—Kirkus Reviews

The natural tableaus suit the tale’s pacifistic mood, and the daughter of the mountain child’s benevolent gesture makes for a particularly striking scene, with swirling green foliage gently urging the reader’s eye to take a leap of faith from her hand over a verdant cliff.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

A beautiful and inspiring parable of kindness, sharing, and the power every child has to make the world a better place. A must-read for children everywhere.
—GRACE BYERS, actress, children’s advocate, and author of the #1 New York Times best-selling picture book I Am Enough

Peace is an abstract idea often hard for young children to grasp, but through the story of the mountain and valley people, children can see what peace looks like as the characters reconcile and discover joy and meaning in connection. While conflict is a familiar part of kids’ lives and natural to their thinking, they need stories like this one to show them how to move beyond conflict to peaceful resolution. If we can help children connect this story to their own experiences, it will help them bring peace-building practices into their own lives.
—Nancy Carlsson-Paige, author of Taking Back Childhood and child policy advocate at Defending the Early Years