Richard Rabinowitz

Who and what is war? This book tries to explain, on a child's level, the major aspects of a war. They discuss the fact that war begins over several factors including resources, power, and differences. They covered what an act of war is and discussed Iraq a lot. It sounds a lot like a soapbox. They discuss war strategies and goals. They discuss the different branches and the purpose of each. Some of the information was outdated. They discuss jobs of the individual soldier. Some of this material discussed war before terrorism and now it is a different story.

The book had some language that is kind of offensive. They skirt around a lot of the major issues (Do people fight because of their instincts? It doesn't say yes or no, but explains the question away) There are lots of analogies and examples. It gets to be many words to explain not-so-hard concepts. This is also a sensitive subject. I think parents would be better off discussing this kind of thing with the children at home. I would not recommend this book but think that books can be a useful resource when dealing with hard topics, such as war.

There are several things we could do in a classroom. We could study the Iraq war in history. Then, we could write a letter to a congressman telling him how we feel about the war. We could write a letter to a soldier, thanking him for his sacrifice as well.… (altro)