Kim Pecinovsky and Hannah Rose Martin, Sparking Peace. Herald Press, 2025. 40 pp. $9 US.
Sparking Peace is a thought-provoking book perfect for children and families as they begin to navigate challenging and open conversations around the topic of gun violence. The book opens with a child doing what kids do best, playing with friends, until a ball goes right over the fence and breaks a neighbor’s window. The illustrations provide the first clue as to the deeper story intertwined with the child; we see a broken picture frame of presumably a mother and child.
Through this child’s accident with the ball we are introduced to the neighbor, Miss Winifred. The father in the text tells his child that he needs to “make it right.” The child goes to Miss Winifred’s house to help clean up her backyard. Through the child’s work we learn more about Miss Winifred. The illustrations continue to reveal more details to the reader. At one time a child lived in her home, evidenced by the toys and bicycle with a license plate of “Junior” on the back. The reader begins to wonder what might have happened to Miss Winifred’s child.
I appreciate the way the author sets up the interaction between the child and Miss Winifred. Through one simple mistake, this child is learning so much about his neighbor. In today’s society, we are not often connected with our neighbors. The story’s connection helps readers to deepen caring emotion for Miss Winifred as well as grow in curiosity like the child. After the child has finished clearing the yard, Miss Winifred offers the child a glass of lemonade. This show of hospitality furthers the connection between the two characters. They continue their bond by beginning to create a garden in the backyard.
The text shifts to the following weekend with a community event featuring a blacksmith and forge. The reader now sees beautiful illustrations capturing the darkness and light as the blacksmith works on a special object in the forge. The child describes the object as something that “brings sadness and breaks hearts.” The faces of the people surrounding the blacksmith are filled with emotion.
“Heat. Change. Heat. Change.” These four simple words capture so beautifully the message of the text. We all experience heat, whether in our personal lives or within our care and conviction about current events taking place in our world. This heat, this pressure, should cause some sort of change in us, hopefully to consider the Lord’s direction and leading as we forge ahead to discern his will. As the text continues to unfold, Miss Winifred takes a turn using the blacksmith’s tools to work on the object. When it is finished the reader sees a garden shovel. Out of the forge, something new is created. Something that brings new life, a symbol for change.
Sparking Peace opens the door for conversations between parents, caregivers, and children around a variety of topics. We see the element of community and loving one’s neighbor. We see what it looks like for a child to take responsibility and in turn grow in developing a relationship with a neighbor. We experience the tension of hurt within a community and what positive changes can come about when a community gathers together. By the end of the text, readers are left with the question: How can I “spark peace” or bring about positive change? These questions are ones that children and families can ponder, discuss, and act on within their homes and community.