[Intro: Yoko Ono & John Lennon]
Happy Christmas, Kyoko
Happy Christmas, Julian
[Verse 1: John Lennon]
So this is Christmas
And what have you done?
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you had fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young
[Chorus: Yoko Ono & Harlem Community Choir]
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
[Verse 2: John Lennon & Harlem Community Choir]
And so this is Christmas (War is over)
For weak and for strong (If you want it)
The rich and the poor ones (War is over)
The road is so long (Now)
And so happy Christmas (War is over)
For black and for white (If you want it)
For yellow and red ones (War is over)
Let’s stop all the fight (Now)
This book takes the song of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Happy Xmas (War Is Over), and mixes it with what I am assuming is World War I history and makes something delightful and dropped the Christmas (in the title) and called it War Is Over. Of course, Peace is not a new theme but one that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. The way it is presented is that two soldiers (on opposite sides of the war) are playing chess via a pigeon sending their moves via notes. Neither knows who their opponent is. On the pages of the book, we see the words of the song floating by, overlapping and twisting into the text of the story (and it doing the same) of the soldiers. Then, as happens in war, the two sides must one day fight. Yet, the song is not there just to promote itself, it is there to give you a hint of what is going to happen. It is presented as one group is one color and the other another. This simplification makes things a tad more lighthearted, yet things are still serious.
When I saw War Is Over! (it was on my online reader site; due November 2025) my first thought was that it was a remake of a Beatles and/or John Lennon song. The cover gives you the vibe I’m sure the creators, Sean Ono Lennon, Dave Mullins, Brad Booker and Max Narciso were going for in that regard (it is Beatles connected). However, you cannot judge this book by the cover alone. Not only is there more to the book than just illustrating a song (which is what I was assuming) the book is a detailed look at war. Plus, the cover is minimalistic in the details and colors, but the inside things are filled out. Now, it is not necessarily a lot of parts crowded together but it is also not necessarily neat either. It brings out the gloom of war but is not too dark focused.
Now, when I say a bit of World War I history I mean that when I saw the images, my first thought was of the singing group Celtic Thunder and their cover of Christmas 1915, which is set in World War I. The song also has two soldiers singing to everyone on Christmas Eve, but each is on the other side of the trenches. During this one night there is peace, until it is no longer peaceful and the narrator says he kills his singing partner the next day. Thankfully the book has a happier ending than the song, but still the emotions were there. This mix of history and fiction makes it for a mature audience, so if you do give it to a child, know your reader.