Journal study: Ain't gonna study war no more

Authored by Patricia A Crawford and Sherron Killingsworth Roberts, this paper tackles the exploration of war through picture books. Although this paper concentrates on a different topic to that of my own project there are many similarities in the aspects that are considered within this work. Dealing with sensitive almost taboo subjects and how they might be addressed with children. My own work will not be aimed specifically at children but a more encompassing book that is essentially for all ages. Children will therefore have to be considered when I am exploring the subject of slavery. This comes as part of  the territory of picture books as they are still largely regarded as a medium that is marketed for children, although this is something that is in debate. The paper studies differing methodologies explaining how a variety of picture books choose to portrait the issue of war. They looked for common themes within these books on which they concluded that there were five main themes. Coping with loss, separation from loved ones, the power of friendship, impact on ordinary citizens and symbolic explorations of war. From the five the symbolic explorations were of the most interest to me as they seem to offer more divergence in approaches and allow for broader interpretations without the need for harsh realities or time specific events. Extracts from this paper are shown below.