POC, Queer, & Trans Owned Independent Publisher | San Francisco, CA | since 2009
I See Peace: the picture book

I See Peace: the picture book

$21.95

now in a picture book friendly format for kids!

inspired from the original paperback book/journal for grown-ups & young adults

Hardcover, 68 pages

7.5″x9.25″
Written & Illustrated by Maya Gonzalez
Intended Audience: Ages 7-11/Grades 2-5

Together we can see a new peace.


more book details below

**PLEASE NOTE: This book ships in about 3-5 business days once order is placed.*

Focusing on the very big idea of peace, i see peace uncovers the truth about a very real and personal experience of peace and how we each can begin creating it in our own lives.

Surprise! it’s often not what we think.


Award-winning children’s book illustrator/author and educator, Maya Gonzalez uses simple words and even more simple ink drawings to create both a universal and intimate experience of peace. Encouraging kids to allow peace to become something real and personal and possible and from there be able to talk about and work for it effectively. This peace movement begins within with the trust that the more we know peace for ourselves the more we create it. Come play with Maya and learn that peace is often closer than we think.

A great companion to When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times, i see peace extends the practice of mindfulness and self-care into the every day. An opportunity for kids to learn how to support themselves as the world continues to radically shift and change.

Watch the Video:


 

Background and the Birth of i see peace
from Author and Illustrator, Maya Gonzalez:

I have made a lot of books. It’s my job. But never one like this.
……….I combined my love of simple storytelling,
…..playful ink drawing
……………and peace
……..to share a very personal journey.

This book landed in my head in 2010, half-formed, but full of breath. And then it just sat there, quietly, not moving. As the project hibernated, I learned more. I learned how our personal experience contributes to the whole, how one person’s actions can change everything for everyone in one way or another. I learned just how connected we are. I could feel it and I could see it. We affect each other in very real ways.

While I See Peace hibernated, many things happened: the revolution in the Arab world, the Occupy movement in the US, the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan and more. I could feel the world changing and needing to change. I wanted to support my world in the big and the small ways because I could feel the connection between all of us. I could feel my desire for peace for each individual on the planet experiencing all the things they were experiencing. Was that kind of peace possible? And was there anything I could do about it?

I knew I could never understand everyone’s intimate experience, but I could understand the basics in my own way.

I knew what it felt like to struggle with issues of power and justice, to face the unknown, to be faced with seemingly unbearable circumstances in which I could either suffer long term or find peace. And much to my surprise, I knew what it felt like to find peace. Although peace was not what I thought it was, it was peace.

I realized that until recently I had never experienced peace for myself and in fact until recently, I still harbored wild misconceptions and idealistic/unrealistic world peace fantasies. I realized that for me, peace needed to become something real and personal and possible before I could talk about and work for it effectively. Now, I see world peace as possible. But in a different way than I had imagined. Beyond rallies and marching and outside peace (which are also fabulous!)…I see

…………..A PEACE movement—

……………………..beginning within each of us,

……….growing from the inside out,

………………affecting our actions and thoughts,

………………………………..changing our world.

I want WORLD PEACE. I will see what I can learn about that by creating peace in my own small world. I will acquaint myself with the reality of peace. Can I do it? Is it possible for me? Is it possible for you? Find out. Begin here, now. It matters.

We’ve got nothing to lose and only peace to gain! Any peace is worth it! Our intentions and effect may appear quite small. That’s ok, it will ripple.

The winter of 2011, I See Peace woke up from its long nap and jumped up into my mind, alive and ready to get out into the world, a very different world than when it first landed. It first became a small paperback book and guided journal for grown-ups, which then became an e-book, and then a 31 day online class and then a whole workbook to dive deeper into each spread of the book. I continued to learn so much about peace and see how it shifted and changed those who engaged with that little book and my online class.

Fast forward to fall of 2017 after a particularly challenging year with the US presidential inauguration and subsequent fall-out, the continued bullying, attacks on civil rights and outright lies, I See Peace called to me again this time to share more specifically with kids in a picture book format.

As a great companion to my other book, When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times, I See Peace extends the practice of mindfulness and self-care into the every day. An opportunity for kids to learn how to support themselves as the world continues to radically shift and change.

i see peace artwork

Weight 15 oz
Dimensions 9.25 × 7.5 × .32 in
ISBN

978-1-945289-10-1

Author/Illustrator

Maya Gonzalez

Date of Publication

December 2017

No. of Pages

68 pages

Format

Hardcover

Intended Audience

Ages 7-11/Grades 2-5

Subjects

JNF040000 Juvenile Nonfiction : Philosophy;
JNF013000 Juvenile Nonfiction : Concepts – General;
JNF053050 Juvenile Nonfiction : Social Issues – Emotions & Feelings

Language

English

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