I really loved the illustrative style in this book. It was a great concept, how to stop and question with a what if. It encourages children to think about outcomes in a new perspective. I’m the historical examples were really great.

I loved the idea of the what Ifs....... I liked the whole premise of the book. I think I could see this being a great series if that's where the author plans to go with it.

Can see how this would be excellent for a classroom!

I have read the"IF" book, and was expecting this book to be something like that, maybe a picture book. But i was mistaken and was surprised to see it was different and had many things for me to learn from. The power of humanity against cruel war and conflicts was beautifully shown in it. I learnt many things from the historical tales of war behind the bizzare questions like the title.
The only thing that kept me from going any further was some missing pages that made the rest of the stories meaningless and impossible to follow for me.
The illustrations were good but could have been better in my idea.
Overall it's a nice book to introduce children to history of war and also the different ways we can bring peace into the world rather than conflict and war.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced read of this interesting book.

"When we ask questions starting with "What if...?" we dare ourselves to think big and to think differently." This quote explains the premise of this book to a tee.

The questions shared here are answered from a point of view that may seem trite but they are supported by historical situations to make us think.

The illustrations may be considered "old school" for their lack of bright colors. In this case, the lack of color matches the tone of the book.

A unique book that definitely promotes creative thinking and problem-solving. This book would be a nice springboard to a class project.

I was expecting this to be more of a picture book call to pacifism. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was examples of soldiers and people with power defying the norm and choosing a peaceful or honorable path. Soldiers assisting one another. People bringing joy to the traumatized. Celebrities using their influence to draw attention to situations and affect policy.

I thought that this was a great book and even as an adult it gave me food for thought!

I found that the book was a wonderful way to approach some of the bigger issues regarding conflicts that are taking place at the moment and the wars that have taken place in the past.

The book poses the questions in a simple way – for example – what if soldiers fought with pillows as the title said. It might sound a little silly but it actually works really well.

I thought it great – easy to read and understand with plenty to make you think – 4 stars!

I found these stories very fascinating. There are non-violent solutions to ending war.

Owlkids Books and Net Galley shared this book with me for review (thank you). It was published March 15th.

This is an easily readable book that should interest children. I learned about movements I'd never heard of in this book. At least one of those movements is still alive.

One man wanted to be a conscientious objector but he was denied. He fought the war but would not use a gun. He saved many and survived despite the odds. He even got a medal for his actions. All without a gun.

Music has stopped fighting. Fighter pilots carrying seeds instead of bombs also made a difference. Some of it happened in the past, some of it is going on today.

This is a good way to see how senseless war can be...

What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows?: True Stories of Imagination and Courage, written by Heather Camlot and illustrated by Serge Bloch, is currently scheduled for release on March 15 2020. What if the impossible were actually possible? What if we turned our dreams into action? What if our imagination could help solve real-world crises, like war, famine, and human rights violations? Through a series of seemingly whimsical questions, this middle-grade nonfiction book introduces readers to people and organizations that are subverting violence, war, and totalitarian power. What if soldiers refused to carry weapons? What if fighter pilots dropped seeds instead of bombs? What if music could be a creative force for democracy? None of these ideas are impossible—in fact, they are all true historical examples of ideas that have been put into action.

What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows? is an accessible look at how people that thought a little differently and asked the hard questions have been able to effect change. I liket hat while the questions are framed with a little humor the book does not ignore the dangers that some of these people faced in their efforts. Many of these stories were new to me, and even those I vaguely remember I was glad to read again or get more information on. I thought the text was well written and engaging. I think the illustrations were cartoony and fun. They did a great job of keeping some humor on each page, and keeping the interest for readers. Imagination, asking questions, and standing strong in your beliefs were key in each of these stories- and are great values to encourage in readers of all ages. It encourages readers to ask questions, especially the hard ones, and to try to find solutions that will help I like that the book also included a glossary and cited its sources in the backmatter. I might have liked a list of websites or reading materials for further reading, but that could very well be in the final version since I had a digital arc.

What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows? encourages critical thinking and standing up for your beliefs and passions. I love the real stories from world history that are used to encourage readers of all ages to look past the obvious answers to find something more.

The book has been a complete pleasure for me. I picked up the book because of the extraordinary title and the eye-catchy cover and it justified my probabilities to the fullest.

This nonfiction tells you so many unusual stories about war times and about people who tried creative methods to bring in peace, equality, justice to the world.

The stories will simply amaze you in so many different ways and you will be awestruck to know that people like them exist who want to make this world a better place.

It has stories common people too which was the best part of the book.

I would say this books should be read by everyone be it a child, be it a teenager or be it an adult. Recommended.

This book encourages kids to think outside the box and look for creative, nonviolent solutions that can help resolve conflicts, bring help to hurting people, and bring justice by looking at examples of real people and organizations all over the world and throughout the past 100 years who have done so.

A very thought-provoking book. Each page spread asks a weird question and then follows it up with a true story that makes the weird seem not so weird, maybe even possible in one way or another. The illustrations are simple and look like they might have been done by a child. The questions are deep enough and examples poignant enough to spark amazing conversations among children on up through teenagers (or even adults). A couple of the example people or organizations have their own books for teens or adults, so if one sparks interest you may want to encourage kids to look into them further. I really liked the global focus of this book. There were several examples from Africa and Asia which sadly often get overlooked even in “global” collections. This was a good mix of people and organizations from every continent. The examples are mostly pretty current, and all are from within the past 80 years. Definitely recommended if you are looking for a conversation starter read for middle graders on up, or if you are looking for examples of nonviolent protestors, people who chose kindness over hate, or creative relief organizations.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting information packaged in a great way for middle grade readers. This book teaches kids that there are many ways to make a difference in the world. I learned so much.

As the title would suggest, this book draws attention to times when creative, non-violent methods have brought about change. Each story is prefaced with a "What if...?" question which relate to the story if a little tenuously at times, for example the titular "What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows instead of pistols?" is about a conscientious objector who became an army medic.

The selection of stories is quite varied and not simply focused on a single country.

My biggest grievance was that the book opens with a quote J K Rowling about making the world a better place - her narrow-minded worldview does not make the world better. I feel as though there is a wide variety of quotes from people that could have been used and yet the authors chose to go with someone who has a very poor reputation because she is a very famous author.

Nice inspiring book showing how individuals can make a difference. There were stories from the past and more current ones. Great book for showing resilience.

This book may be a little pie-in-the-sky, but it offers some true stories and some basic truths. Every other pages asks a seemingly silly question, such as what if battle grounds were soccer fields and spectators cheered for every team? Or, What if Navy SEALs balanced balls on their noses? Or what if innocent civilians could be airlifted by music?

When you read the accompanying story, each only a few paragraphs long, you realize that the question is not only not as silly as it initially sounded, but is in fact rooted in a real event. Clowns, rappers, children, and even circus performers have helped to bring peace to troubled areas.

Of course, not every idea is always happy. The question about battle ground and soccer fields talks about the success of the Ivory Coast soccer team in Africa, and how friendly soccer games led to a ceasefire. It carefully ignores the reverse situation where a soccer game ended in two nations going to war (between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969). Of course, the underlying causes went deeper than one soccer game, but it's still a fact of life.

But that's not the focus of this book - and rightly so. Instead it chooses positive as did the people whose stories are told here, and that's the right way to go and a useful and inspiring lesson for children everywhere to learn from and emulate. Our president should read this book! I commend this as a worthy read.

I received an electronic so copy so I don’t know if that affected this, but the size of the words were just too small for a picture book.. The information was very interesting and I learned a lot of information that I had not previously known.

What if Soldiers Fought with Pillows is a book that encourages community involvement and critical thinking at its heart. Each story tells about brave people standing up to war in their country and how they helped to create peace.
The stories are short, but give enough information. There is a glossary and endnotes, as well as listed sources to research more on each story.

This was an interesting little gem. "What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows?" is a non-fiction book aimed at middle graders, talking about people in various different places and time periods who tried to stop conflict, or help victims of conflict, through pacifist actions. Each of the stories is framed with a question that invites the reader to imagine what the world could be like if current way of waging war were replaced with non-violent ones - such as the titular "What if soldiers fought with pillows instead of pistols?" or "What if a theater of war had costumes and musical numbers?".

The real-life stories are well-chosen and interesting, and the concept has just the right touch of whimsy to thoroughly engage and, hopefully, call to action - the book's basic premise is that we should dare to imagine a better world and work toward it. I honestly do hope this is exactly the reaction the book inspires in children; my cynical adult self, on the other hand, mostly got saddened at the state of the world requiring the small actions of kindness presented in this book.

A minor nitpick about the generally lovely illustrations: I'd have preferred a different color scheme, but that's a highly subjective remark that's neither here nor there, really.

What a wonderful way to approach big, harsh issues -- by asking simple What if questions that seem silly and yet this collection of true stories reveal how possible and powerful creative nonviolence can be. Great for adults and kids alike. I appreciate its hopefully active imagination -- may it spread!

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This book geared towards older students, middle school maybe may create dialog on past historic events. I did not love the illustrations but I understand why others do.