As War grows ever more powerful and modern, he revels in his destructive capability - until the day he wonders what will become of him when all the people have wiped themselves out... It is only then that he regrets his nature. "I have always been War, and I will always be War," he thinks, but is it true? Or did he once have a different name?

The End of War is a beautiful, thoughtful picture book, offering both children and adults a powerful meditation on the nature of violence, and the biblical story of Cain and Abel. I felt chills when reading the passage in which War finally regains his earlier identity, and was strongly moved, both by the idea that all wars are fought between brothers, and that only by giving things their proper name, can they be understood and overcome. Antoni Boratynski's illustrations are a somber and perfect accompaniment to this tale, which I recommend to anyone who appreciates a more philosophical picture-book. ( )

Irmela Wendt's The End of War begins by introducing the readers to the story of Cain and Abel. After killing his brother, Cain is cursed by God. "'You are the seed of your own destruction,’ whispered a voice within him. 'You are War!' And so War was born." As War gets older, many people are eagerly awaiting his death. The leaders of the world, however, begin to question how they will stay in power if their friend, War, dies. As a result, they get together and decide that War must live. In order to save war, the leaders of the world keep War's age a secret, changing the information that is included in the history books. They find ways to update War, making him even stronger than he was before. At first, War enjoys this power. However, he begins to question who he is, recognizing that he once was someone very different. In order to return to his roots, War visits the past, where he meets his brother, Abel. War feels remorse. His tears wash the blood from the earth. War dies, and Abel lives.

Irmela Wendt's story is enriched by Antoni Boratynski's haunting illustrations, which seem to be created in the spirit of surrealism. Both work together to communicate the ugliness and destruction that comes with war.

Although some teachers might feel a little uncomfortable making use of a book that includes such a clear anti-war statement as well as one in which the character of God appears, I think that The End of War could be used in grades 4 through 12. This book could be presented as one perspective on war. In fact, it could be paired with a piece of writing that expresses a very different point of view, encouraging students to discuss the different perspectives, sharing their own ideas. It would also work nicely with J. Ruth Gender's The Book of Qualities, which is a collection of pieces in which the author personifies qualities. After reading The End of War and a few of J. Ruth Gendler's selections, the students could work on personifying their own qualities in the context of a story or a poem, picking one of the two authors' pieces to act as a model.