If War Were is a dark, moving poem about the nature of war.  What makes it especially powerful, is that it was co-written by a class of Grade 1 children and their teacher, Pamela Perry.

(also adapted and performed as a reader's theatre piece by Mrs. Perry's Class!)

Pamela Perry's Grade 1 Class
Caulfeild Elementary School, 2007/2008

 
In October 2007, the students of Mrs. Pamela Perry's Grade One class at Caulfeild Elementary School in West Vancouver, BC, wrote the poem "If War Were A Colour" out of compassion for the children in the world who suffer through wars. We had been participating in an African Conference initiated by our principal, Mr. Brad Lund. The purpose of our conference was twofold; to gain a new understanding about conditions in Africa and to raise funds to build a school in Rwanda. Our visiting Writer-in Residence, Kari-Lynn Winters, guided us through the writing process.
 
    Class Members are: Brittany Bryan, Celina Clokie, Luca Coppola-Gibson, Ben Cross, Elena Delafontaine, Chantele Feher, Patrick Hannah, Amy and Nicole Leith, Matthew Lindsay, Kate McLeod, Arthur Miller, Michaela Moore, Celeste Popoff, Olivia Stout, Michael Schulhof, Gianluca Taffara, Alexandria Tsavdaris, Jarick Vance, and Ellie Willock.

Julia Karlinsky was born in Moscow, Russia. For the first half of her life, the theater was her primary interest. She studied costume and set design in both Russia and USA and worked as costume and set designer, as well as scene painter and mural artist everywhere from New Jersey, to Houston, to Portland, Oregon and everywhere in between. After her children were born, Julia found herself fully immersed in the wonderful world of children's books. As her children grew, she's been compelled to illustrate first nursery rimes, then fairy tales and lately graphic novels. The favorite hobby: curl up with a really good, scary book and a chunk of chocolate on a rainy night.

You can learn more about Julia on her website!