Peace One Day
One day, a lightbulb went off in Jeremy Gilley's head: there should be one day each year when the world stops fighting and celebrates peace. And he did much more than just think about it. He traveled the globe, meeting with leaders such as Kofi Annan, Amre Moussa, Shimon Peres, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Jeremy's enthusiasm and tireless efforts convinced the governments of the world to change the UN International Day of Peace from a day that moved each year and didn't actually require...
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Proof that one person can make a difference. One day, a lightbulb went off in Jeremy Gilley's head: there should be one day each year when the world stops fighting and celebrates peace. And he did much more than just think about it. He traveled the globe, meeting with leaders such as Kofi Annan, Amre Moussa, Shimon Peres, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Jeremy's enthusiasm and tireless efforts convinced the governments of the world to change the UN International Day of Peace from a day that moved each year and didn't actually require anyone to stop fighting into a cease-fire day of nonviolence that would fall on September 21 every year. This amazing story touches on the causes of war, what would happen on a cease-fire day, ways to promote peace on September 21, and most important, how a single person can make a difference in the world.Sharon Salluzzo - Children's LiteratureWondering why it is so hard for the global community to live in peace, the British film director, Jeremy Gilley, became determined to create a day of world peace. When he began his research, he discovered that the UN already had proclaimed world peace day to be the third Tuesday of September. The moveable date was a problem, so Gilley set to work to make it a set date. Nay sayers scoffed at his goal but that did not stop him. The brief text presents his travels, disappointments and accomplishments in getting the 21st of September to become the official UN day of peace. Blessen's marvelously-creative collage illustrations combine photos, drawings, and a variety of fonts and letter sizes which present quotes and statements that can be used as discussion starters. Gilley urges the reader to become active in the pursuit of peace as the reader peruses these images and photographs of scenes of war and people of peace. To that end, the web address for peace one day is included in the back of the book. 2005, GP Putnam's Sons, Ages 8 up.
\ Children's LiteratureWondering why it is so hard for the global community to live in peace, the British film director, Jeremy Gilley, became determined to create a day of world peace. When he began his research, he discovered that the UN already had proclaimed world peace day to be the third Tuesday of September. The moveable date was a problem, so Gilley set to work to make it a set date. Nay sayers scoffed at his goal but that did not stop him. The brief text presents his travels, disappointments and accomplishments in getting the 21st of September to become the official UN day of peace. Blessen's marvelously-creative collage illustrations combine photos, drawings, and a variety of fonts and letter sizes which present quotes and statements that can be used as discussion starters. Gilley urges the reader to become active in the pursuit of peace as the reader peruses these images and photographs of scenes of war and people of peace. To that end, the web address for peace one day is included in the back of the book. 2005, GP Putnam's Sons, Ages 8 up. \ —Sharon Salluzzo\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 3-6-Hoping to make a difference and help to bring calm in a troubled world, Gilley wrote to the United Nations to discuss an idea for a day when the entire globe would observe peace. In order to make it work, he decided a specific date was needed. As well as making it a day for global cease-fire and nonviolence, it would also be "A day for everyone in our homes, schools and communities around the world to stop fighting." Aided by his family, colleagues, and friends, he wrote to presidents and prime ministers, Nobel Prize winners and religious leaders for help. While meeting with dignitaries around the world, as well as visiting countries where conflicts were going on, he decided to film the poverty, destruction, and suffering from wars. Seeing the reality that children had to live with reaffirmed his desire to make a difference. After struggling for over two years, his realization came true. The United Nations voted to name September 21 a day of cease-fire and nonviolence. He named it Peace One Day. All of the pain, disappointment, and excitement in his dream are well documented. The combination of text and illustrations demonstrates the message that "everyone can make a difference." The clear, concise text appears with a collage of captioned photos and realistic drawings. Teachers and librarians can use the Web site provided for suggestions for individuals, families, and schools to celebrate Peace day.-Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsBegging to differ with those who believe that individuals cannot make a difference in the world, actor/filmmaker Gilley describes his own years-long campaign, documented in a feature-length film, to persuade the UN to designate September 21st as an annual World Peace Day. In his relentlessly positive account, corporate support for supplies and travel is there for the asking, world leaders and officials from the Dalai Lama to Kofi Annan personally urge him on, and the difficulties of filming in locales worldwide, of winning over the UN's bureaucracy, and then of organizing the holiday's 2002 kickoff, are but momentary bumps in the road. In distinct counterpoint to Gilley's upbeat narrative, though, Blessen illustrates with jagged, urgent montages of clipped headlines, quotes, slogans, colored pencil portraits and small color photos that, cumulatively, effectively underscore the real need for each and every peace initiative. Rather than close with specific suggestions, Gilley caps his inspirational manifesto with the suggestion that readers find their own creative ways of celebrating the day. Not a bad thought. (Web site) (Nonfiction. 8-10)\ \
