Can one woman bring about world peace? Read selected stories from Asian cultures as retold by Chandrani Warnasuriya in her book Peace Tales From Asia: Building a Culture of Peace. "What a difference it would make if we replace war with peace," she writes. The author is inspired by those promoting and working for peace both locally and globally. She was motivated to write Peace Tales because, "War and terrorism was prevalent in my country Sri Lanka for over thirty years; torn by ethnic and religious conflict made everybody including myself long for peace. Round-the-globe acts of violence and reckless killing have left thousands bereaved and mourning for loved ones lost forever." Inspired by her students, "I seriously thought about writing when I started to teach and work with children. I realized that children were the grass-roots level with which to begin work for peace in the world." Author Bio: From Sri Lanka, Chandrani Warnasuriya has completed her next book, What is Hallowed About It? A Child's Approach to Popular Symbols in World Cultures. Her blog promotes peace around the world, Chandrani86.wordpress.com. Publisher's website: http: //www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/PeaceTalesFromAsia.html

**Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) Winner** **Middle School Book of the Year-- Northern Lights Book Awards** **Skipping Stones Honor Award Winner** For the first time, middle readers can learn the complete story of the courageous girl whose life, which ended through the effects of war, inspired a worldwide call for peace. In this book, author Sue DiCicco and Sadako's older brother Masahiro tell her complete story in English for the first time--how Sadako's courage throughout her illness inspired family and friends, and how she became a symbol of all people, especially children, who suffer from the impact of war. Her life and her death carry a message: we must have a wholehearted desire for peace and be willing to work together to achieve it. Sadako Sasaki was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on her city of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. Ten years later, just as life was starting to feel almost normal again, this athletic and enthusiastic girl was fighting a war of a different kind. One of many children affected by the bomb, she had contracted leukemia. Patient and determined, Sadako set herself the task of folding 1000 paper cranes in the hope that her wish to be made well again would be granted. Illustrations and personal family photos give a glimpse into Sadako's life and the horrors of war. Proceeds from this book are shared equally between The Sadako Legacy NPO and The Peace Crane Project.

Heian (pronounced "HEY-an") means "peace" in Japanese. For over 30 years, Heian has published books about Asia, aiming to promote peace through a better understanding between cultures. Stone Bridge Press is proud to introduce Heian as a new imprint, expanding our own mission to offer fine books about Japan and about Asia to Western readers. Adults retell the tales of their childhood in this unique new series. Each story can be read individually, or read aloud to young children just learning to "listen." China Tells How the World Began includes "How the World Began" and "Why Cats Hate Rats." Chinese Fables Remembered includes "The Brothers and the Birds" and "The Two Rooster Friends." Miyoko Matsutani, a past winner of the International Hans Christian Anderson Award, listened carefully as Miwa Kurita retold the stories of her childhood, transcribing them for this collection. Saoko Mitsukuri studied art in Korea and has illustrated several folktale collections.

"Six-year-old Sachiko and her family suffered greatly after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, and in the years that followed, the miraculous survival of a ceramic bowl became a key part of Sachiko's journey toward peace"--

Along the Mekong, from northern Tibet to Lijiang, from Luang Prabang to Phnom Penh to Can Lo, I moved from one world to another, among cultural islands often ignorant of each other’s presence. Yet each island, as if built on shifting sands and eroded and reshaped by a universal sea, was re-forming itself, or was being remolded, was expanding its horizons or sinking under the rising waters of a cultural global warming. It was a journey between worlds, worlds fragiley conjoined by a river both ominous and luminescent, muscular and bosomy, harsh and sensuous. From windswept plateaus to the South China Sea, the Mekong flows for three thousand miles, snaking its way through Southeast Asia. Long fascinated with this part of the world, former New York Times correspondent Edward Gargan embarked on an ambitious exploration of the Mekong and those living within its watershed. The River’s Tale is a rare and profound book that delivers more than a correspondent’s account of a place. It is a seminal examination of the Mekong and its people, a testament to the their struggles, their defeats and their victories.