We picked a theme of Peace for our Kids Cover Competition. The message is more urgent than ever

How do you make peace – or at least try to draw it? I wouldn’t know where to start. Neither, I suspect, would many world leaders, going by current crises. But you can never underestimate children’s creativity. Or their hopeful optimism.

We received a stack-load of entries for this year’s Spring Kids Cover Competition, from families and entire school years across the country. Alongside doves, rainbows and yes, even aliens reminding us to come in peace, were ideas for making the world a better place – be that to increase the peace on a global scale, or on a more personal level. 

Our winner, six-year-old April, drew someone sleeping soundly. Whether a person is without a safe and secure home, is caught in a conflict zone or lies awake with worry or anxiety, a peaceful night’s rest is a universal necessity.

Read more:

• The world may be giving up on solving conflicts, warns Doctors Without Borders boss
• Striking photos show Israeli and Palestinian mothers walking barefoot through Rome to call for peace
• The man who never gave up on peace

When we picked this year’s theme, ‘peace’ had recently been declared Children’s Word of the Year 2025.
While the competition was open, the bombing of Iran began and the need for peace became more urgent than ever.

Every conflict, whether in Iran, Ukraine, Sudan or elsewhere in the world, is caused by individual incidents that go back centuries. We can try to understand the history and hidden (or not so hidden) agendas driving events, but we will always come up short, left feeling numbed, too battered by bleakness to move forward.

Young people aren’t constrained by that burden. Submissions in this year’s competition included opposing soldiers shaking hands, Russian and Ukrainian flags flying side by side. Explaining why divisions exist is just as difficult as trying to think of ways to bridge them.

There is an enviable naivety. It’s a word that tends to have negative connotations, but it also holds radical power. Entries to our cover competition might not include detailed plans about how to solve the world’s problems, but they embody an attitude that’s desperately needed.

April’s dad Nick told us how the cover competition prompted a discussion about what peace really meant. A note accompanying entries from Mrs Hamill at Inchinnan Primary School said similar: “[Pupils] really enjoyed this competition. It brought excellent conversations around ‘PEACE’, what that looks like, sounds like and feels like.”

In a chaotic, confusing world where the big issues are so enormously complex, an entry point is needed. The fact that a cover competition could spark that conversation inspired us to try again.

PS: This is my first edition as editor. My aim is to ensure vendors continue to have a magazine they are proud to sell, and you, dear reader,  have a trusted and entertaining source of news and insight in a world that feels untrustworthy and grim. I’d like to thank my predecessor Paul McNamee, who set exacting standards and taught me so much about what makes a good story, how best to tell it, and why we should all love Mrs Brown’s Boys.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. 

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