Imagine

Each school I’ve been in as a Headteacher has amassed the latest Amnesty publications and I would certainly add this beautiful book to that collection. What more can I say about the text itself – this is one of the most famous peace songs in existence. However the pictures and the book itself DO add to that and will hopefully help to bring the words to a whole new audience. The book should place John Lennon’s abstract ideas in children’s minds and help them understand them.  The illustrations are simple: bright, bold and eye catching.  All of them feature a little pigeon with a little messenger bag making sense of the world. He spreads peace and love and understanding on his travels and the pictures show that throughout.

There is a moving introduction from Yoko Ono who makes the point that the book is very important at the present time, her passion for spreading John Lennon’s message is still as strong as ever. It is a book to grace an assembly or display shelf in school and certainly one to appreciate and share at home. The style and layout are lovely for children to enjoy by themselves but also for a class to enjoy – seeing the story of the pigeon’s travels in front of them and then perhaps listening to the song again which will then have a more powerful meaning as those pictures will help them IMAGINE.