Violence at a Sacred Place and How Healing Comes

In the aftermath of the murder of 9 people in Charleston who were at a Bible study at Emmanuel AME Church, I urge you to offer opportunities for conversation with the adults and children in your families of faith, classrooms, and homes. This can begin healing for all of us who are hurt and shocked by this event. Picture books are a wonderful way to start these kinds of difficult conversations because picture books are comforting and nostalgic. Trust can be more easily established. Adults need picture books in times like these.

There is a lengthy list of words in the search engine on this PBT blog usually found at the bottom of the computer screen. Click on words such as violence, death, loss, racism, and hatred. Then you will be taken to picture books that I have determined to have potential for conversations on these topics. Choose according to age appropriateness and carefully consider issues of trust and places for deep listening before you start what I hope will be meaningful conversations in the wake of this horrible event.

Here are a few PBT Books you might want to consider and the date they were offered her on PBT:
Let There Be Peace on Earth             8/17/14
The Butter Battle Book                       3/4/15
The Goodbye Boat                               5/25/14

My fellow picture book bloggers on the Storypath Blog have written an excellent posting on how you might respond to this tragedy. I commend them on the writing of it and urge you to check it out. Here’s the link:

http://storypath.upsem.edu/peace-is-an-offering-children-and-charleston/