Manneken Pis: A Simple Story of a Boy Who Peed on a War

by Vladimir Radunsky and Radunsky V

Did you know a little boy could stop a big war?How?Turn the page and read about the legendary Belgian boy who showed the world just how silly it is to fight. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689831935
• ISBN13: 9780689831935
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 30 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.8" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

To help young children come to grips with war

When my four-year-old son began to learn that the U.S. was involved in a war, he had a very difficult time understanding both war and its potential--specifically, he feared that the war would reach his hometown and engulf the people he loves. A wise aunt gave us this book as a present. When my son and I read it together, it helped us discuss war. More importantly, it gave him a sense of control over war. Certainly he does not believe that a boy, peeing on a war, can end that war. But the sense of control--however chimerical--was necessary and calming for him at that age. The illustrations are simple and convey the relevant emotions. The fact that the book ends with the statue--concrete history (fictionalized or not)--helps the aura of control. This book, like nothing else, helped our family to talk about what war is and what war isn't, and it allowed our son to sleep at night again. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

Manneken Pis: A Simple Story That Entertains

When the book first arrived on the shelves of the library that employs me, most of my coworkers agreed they would never read the book to children. In fact, there were bets being placed as to how long it would last before some parent complained about the content. But, I'm here to say that Manneken Pis: A Simple Story of a Boy Who Peed on a War does more than just rely on the laughs the images of a peeing boy conjures. While I cannot vouch for the validity of the history lesson the book provides (not my best subject), I can vouch that the story engrossed the fourth grade classes I read it to. The story starts off as any other folk tale might, with a beautiful family in a beautiful town where everyone is happy. Soon the war strikes, and the book focuses most on the viciousness of war, showing the soldiers as pseudo-human gremlin types, and the ill effects it has on the town. The child, torn from his parents wanders the streets and in a moment of dire emergency, relieves himself from the top of the town wall causing the soldiers to break into a laughter so fierce that they fall asleep from exhaustion. When they wake up, no one can remember why the war started, and the little boy who peed on a war becomes a town hero, complete with a bronze statue named after him. The book's illustrations are simple and colorful and work great in this situation. Anything too realistic could have caused far more controversy than the book needs. Highly recommended to show children that war is bad, laughing and pausing to think is good, and sometimes, if a person REALLY has to go, they REALLY have to go.