Israeli children's author and artist Paul Kor, perhaps best known for his trilogy of picture-books about Flash the Fish - of the three, only the first, כספיון הדג הקטן in the original Hebrew, has been translated into English - here meditates on the idea of war and peace. As the hawk transforms himself into a dove, various means of war are also transformed, whether it be tanks into tractors, or planes into butterflies. But despite this welcome development, the dove worries that one day there will be another hawk...

The second picture-book I have read from Kor, The Hawk and the Dove put me strongly in mind of the passage from the Book of Isaiah, from the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament, depending upon one's religious persuasion) about turning swords into ploughshares. According to the brief afterword, the book was conceived in 1967, during the Six-Day War, and completed in 1982, during the Lebanon War. It draws upon Kor's work during both of those periods, as well as the drawings he did as a boy, living in World War II-era Europe. A poignant plea for peace, one that never loses sight of the fact that war is always a possibility down the road, it is also a beautifully designed book, with the transformations mentioned above being depicted through the use of half-pages on each spread, with the object in question appearing in its war-like appearance on the front, and in its peaceful aspect once the half-page is turned.

I found this a thoughtful book, but am unsure to whom I would recommend it. Perhaps to those looking for books about war and peace, and the hope for peace? Undoubtedly, to admirers of Paul Kor's artwork as well. ( )

Great to show opposites.