What a Troubled World Can Learn From Children

The Boogies and the Woogies - A Book Review

Today, I’d like to feature a book review for Marianne Reed’s “The Boogies and the Woogies”.

In a world where peace seems to be an impossibility , sometimes children can teach us what we need to learn as grownups who have forgotten the simplicity of little things.

Why is it the we find it so hard to find peace today? Why is it that our arguments never seem to end? Why do we claim we are right but then feel like we’re so wrong at the end of the day?

Social media posts are full of words that hurt other people. Harsh words are often exchanged for the sake of fighting for what is good.

Yet how can we claim to be good when we have forgotten the most important thing? When we have forgotten to love?

Mother Teresa said it perfectly:

Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other-that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still need tanks and generals?

Before we proceed to the book review, I leave you with a poem I wrote about the importance of building bridges of love and peace.

May There Be Bridges Between Us

May there be bridges between us
Bridges of understanding between you and me,
Bridges of hope,
Bridges of honesty,
Bridges that link us,
heart to heart,
and mind to mind.

May there be bridges between us,
Bridges that break down walls
and the coldness of words misunderstood,
May those bridges stand strong
May they reach out far and wide,
And may no one burn them
that they might fall.

May there be bridges between us
May it unite us evermore,
Bridges that bring us closer
heart to heart
and mind to mind,
Bridges between friends,
Bridges between brothers,
that we may know we’re not alone,
and that we could always – always find our way back home!

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Below is the book review I have made for “The Boogies and the Woogies” and the accompanying lessons that even adults need in a world that’s starving for peace:

“The Boogies and the Woogies” by Marianne Reed is just so cute, so colorful and so adorable that I enjoyed it immensely even though I’m no longer a little child. It just felt good to be young again and to see a world where everything is new and wonderful. This book has a certain way of conveying positivity and warmth to its readers through its vivid illustrations and smart narrative. In a simple but very effective way, it delivers a strong message to readers young and old, a message that the world badly needs today.

Sometimes it’s hard to see a solution without seeing our situation from another perspective. And that’s where this book comes in. It enables its readers to visualize through its magical pages how we sometimes behave and why we often can’t find the answers to our problems.

Haven’t we seen children fight over something they can’t seem to settle by themselves? (Well, it seems even adults also, but let’s talk about that later on). Many times, a fight can go on because neither side is unwilling to acknowledge who is right and who is wrong. This is very much like the Boogies and the Woogies!

Although these delightful little creatures look the same, the reader will soon find out how terribly different they perceived each other. In fact, they have become so distant that one day, there appeared a great crack between them! How would this crack affect their lives? How do you solve something when all that you can see is an enemy?

But to avoid misunderstanding the message of the book, we should keep in mind that the final message is not about whether there is a difference between right and wrong. Clearly, something was wrong when the Woogies refused to listen and to reconcile.

What then is right? It is love.

And what is love? It is thinking about and doing what’s good for the other. The opposite is pride. To stubbornly wish to appear like you’re right even when you’re wrong, even when you’re already hurting those around you. It’s when you’re so puffed up with yourself that you refuse to see the face of the person in front of you.

The message of this book is deeper than the usual lessons one could learn in picture books. And for this, a discussion between the adults and young ones may be needed. This is a golden opportunity not only to impart good values to children but to bond with them and to spend precious memories no one could take away.

For this reason, this story will have a lasting impact long after it has been read. It will be remembered as a strong message that can equip young ones with the key to solving many irreconcilable problems later on.

It is my hope that when these children grow up into the adults like many of us are today, they could find a better way to communicate with each other no matter how different they seem to be.

Oh, how I wish it were that easy to set aside our differences like the Boogies and the Woogies did. To see the face of the person in front of us and just start to love that person.

Maybe then we could truly realize what matters in life. Maybe then, this world can finally learn the way to peace.

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