by Ann Parker, The University of Arizona

I wish I had a book.
I wish for all kids around the world to have books.
I wish I had an endless supply of books.
I wish that I could have history books.
I wish everyone would read a book they enjoy!
I wish everyone could read.
I whish I could red a book for the wrld.
Reading and own lots of books.
I wish I could levetat when ever Id wish.
I wish animals and I could talk.
I mirmaid real.
I wish for a dinosaur.
I wish I could fly!

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by Kathy G. Short, The University of Arizona

Many adults believe that children should not be burdened with books that raise difficult social issues, particularly war and violence. They argue for protecting the innocence of children, not realizing that what children want is perspective, not protection. As we sorted through children’s wishes for the world, wishes about war and peace were the most prevalent. Their comments ranged from general wishes, such as “I wish for peace to the world” and “ I wish that all the war in the world would just disappear” to more specific wishes, such as “I wish no children be in a war zone” and “I wish for kids in Iraq to not get blown up by mines in the war.” Children are aware of what is occurring around them in the world and our attempts to protect them from that knowledge reflect an adult’s naïve view of childhood rather than children’s need to gain perspective on these difficult events.
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by Judi Moreillon, Story Power, Tucson, AZ

When I was a first-year librarian, I remember being surprised to learn that our school dispensed clothing to children who needed clothes – not because their clothing was torn or soiled but because they simply didn’t have clothes. I connect these children’s wishes about clothing, one of the necessities of life, to Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed with illustrations by Doug Chayka. In this story, two young girls meet in a refugee camp and share a pair of sandals. When one leaves the camp, she is given new shoes and attempts to leave her half of the pair of sandals with her refugee camp friend. Instead, the friend insists that she take both sandals as a souvenir of their friendship. There is an excellent review of this book in WOW Review.
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Have you ever blown out candles on a birthday to make a wish? What about wishing on a shooting star? Children all around the world make wishes, and so do we. Worlds of Words invited visitors to our Tucson Festival of Books booth to make wishes for the world. We used Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World by Roseanne Thong with illustrations by Elisa Kleven to start our conversations.

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This month, members of the WOW Advisory Board are revisiting the wishes made by the younger visitors to our booth and reflecting on the interconnectedness of traditions, stories, and people the world around. What are your wishes and wishing traditions? Join the conversation.

Please visit wowlit.org to browse to browse or search our growing database of books, to read one of our two on-line journals, or to learn more about our mission.