Peaceable Stories Resources

This site offers information both for researchers and for “mentors” (parents, teachers, and policymakers) on topics relating to media literacy. Consult their Smart Search database with a particular question, or check Hot Topics for newsworthy issues.

Established in Portland, Maine in 1999, the Center’s programs for schools, businesses, and communities aim to interrupt the social conditions that foster the development of harassment and its escalation to violence and bias-motivated crimes.

The website for this research and training project offers handouts from training modules like “Social-Emotional Teaching Strategies,” suggestions for children’s books and activities in the “Book Nook,” and research briefs called “What Works.” Brief 21, “Fostering Emotional Literacy in Young Children: Labeling Emotions”, is particularly useful.

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, is the chairman of this organization, which aims “to give every child in every community a wide range of opportunities to experience nature directly, reconnecting our children with nature’s joys and lessons, its profound physical and mental bounty.” Learn about their central campaign, Leave No Child Inside, on this site.

The Westchester, New York public library created this guide about using stories to help children live their lives with resiliency and optimism in the face of loss, uncertainty, and fear. Booklist themes include “Friends and Enemies,” “Heroes,” and “Making a Difference.”

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2001-2010 the International Decade for the Promotion of Non-Violence and Peace for the Children of the World, and designated the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) the coordinating agency. The UNESCO website offers information about Decade activities and participating organizations around the world.

An initiative that seeks to educate youth about the power of philanthropy, which they define as “sharing time, talent and treasure.” While the initiative targets K-12 educators, many of the K-2 lesson plans, activities, and resources are adaptable for preschoolers.

This site addresses important aspects of the early years, such as school readiness and social and emotional development. Experts offer practical, age-appropriate advice on issues such as “Raising Boys” and “Children and the Media.” Guides for talking with kids are especially useful: look for “Talking About War Play” and “Talking Through Angry Feelings.”

This international network of peacemakers was started by an educator in rural Nebraska. Projects include a Young Peacemakers Club, a Kindness Campaign, a traveling children’s peace museum, and a conflict resolution training system called Building Bridges.

Through this program of the Jane Goodall Institute, youth of all ages take action to improve our world through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community. The network currently encompasses more than 8,000 groups in almost 100 countries.

TRUCE is an organization of early childhood professionals working to promote a positive play environment for young children. Their “Toy Action Guide,” updated annually, lists of specific toys to avoid and chronicles disturbing trends in the toy industry. The Lion and Lamb Project produces a similar list and also offers a Parent Action Kit.

A comprehensive resource for people “who celebrate the positive power of music in children’s lives by exchanging ideas, visions, and music.” The article “Wonderful Worlds of Children’s Books and Music” by Bobbi Bernstein refers to Ashley Bryan’s What a Wonderful World, used in the Many Eyes, Many Voices curriculum from Born to Read.

The mission of this network of storytellers is to improve the quality of storytelling at all levels—in entertainment venues, in classrooms, organizations, medical fields and wherever storytelling can make a contribution to quality of life. Visit their Knowledge Bank for resources, or click over to their affiliate Youth Educators and Storytellers Alliance.

New Mexico storyteller Sarah Malone is spearheading an effort to celebrate honesty, forgiveness, and friendship through stories from many cultures. Malone’s recording, “Holding Up the Sky,” was a Storytelling World Honor title in 2004. Proceeds from its sales benefit the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (serving child victims of armed conflicts) and Peace Talks Radio. You can find “Holding Up the Sky” and its accompanying curriculum guide, along with a sample story, on this site.

Raffi explains his new philosophy of Child Honouring, “a children-first approach to global restoration,” on this website. He also expresses it on his 2006 album, Resisto Dancing, with lyrics inspired by famous peacemakers like the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Riane Eisler and Jane Goodall. Raffi invites everyone to “sing—and dance!—a new paradigm into being: a peacemaking culture, a child-friendlyworld, a world that honours its young.”

Developed by nationally known storyteller Heather Forest, this site offers lesson plans, activities, articles, booklists, and full-text stories from many cultures. You can sign up for Musings, Forest’s monthly e-newsletter, or participate in the Curriculum Ideas Exhange.