Jeffers hates conflict. He doesn't like it. The prize-winning children's author and illustrator grew up in Northern Ireland and believes that parents have a responsibility to teach their children about the Troubles. Children are going to be grown ups. He says that people will walk into the same failures that humans have made if we walk on eggshells.
He says that parents need to talk to their children about war and other types of conflict. It's their responsibility to do that. Conflict doesn't accomplish a lot.
Jeffers hopes his new picture book, Meanwhile Back on Earth, will spark conversations about conflict by showing children a Cosmic view on conflict.
In the book, a father takes his two children on a tour of the solar system to give them some perspective on the conflicts that have taken place on Earth since the beginning of time.
Children are future adults, yet we tell them ‘everything is perfect, life is rosy’
The aim is to show children how pointless and inconsequential territorial disputes can be. It was inspired by something the Apollo 14 astronauts said when they were on the moon. You would like to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, "Look at that, you son of a bitch."
When he moved to New York, Jeffers went through a similar cognitive shift. He had to explain to people that Northern Ireland was part of the UK. They would ask, 'What?'. The people who were smart and educated were unaware that Northern Ireland was not part of the Republic of Ireland. A lot of English and Welsh people didn't know that.
Jeffers was very used to the sight of the British army in battle gear boarding a bus and checking it for bombs when he was a child.
He was beaten up because he was Catholic. He says he left. fireworks were fired at his house Catholic friends are dead. I talked my way out of trouble. He thinks the fighting is a waste of energy. I realized at the time that I didn't like conflict. It made me sick to my stomach.
He realized when he left Northern Ireland that the conflict that had overshadowed his childhood mattered very little to most people he met. When I moved to New York, I realized that having a Northern Irish accent was not a problem.
I learned to avoid trouble and to talk my way out of trouble
Jeffers hopes children will read the book and question what conflict can accomplish. At any point in human history, there were always disagreements about territory and space. When it's applied to the back seat of the car, children can understand. Don't look out my window; this is my side, that's your side.
He had a conversation with his children in the car about how long it would take to drive between the planets. It would take 283 years to travel to the sun at 37 mph, while it would take 8000 years to reach Neptune, according to the calculations he made with the help of an astronomer.
For all that time, the book shows, back on Earth, humans have been fighting each other over bits of land and Jeffers is hoping his readers will see how sad and pointless this is.
The book can be used by parents to talk to their children about the importance of gaining a sense of perspective on conflicts in their own lives, as well as helping them to resolve disputes with friends or siblings.
Perspective can come from somewhere. You calm down when you count to 10 because you have the perspective of time. The battle doesn't seem so important when you're far away. Your perspective can completely change with physical distance.
During the lock down, Jeffers was reminded of this. I was stuck in a place that I didn't want to be. He wanted to give his wife some space so he took his children for a drive. I looked at their faces in the back of the car and wondered what was happening. I'm getting frustrated and working up here.
He has spoken to his children about the conflicts in the world and the political unrest in Northern Ireland. We talked to them about what was going on. We talk to the Ukrainian refugee living with us about why there is a battle going on. His son was able to take a Barbie doll and turn it into a gun despite this. There is something in little boys that makes them like that.
He is trying to make sure his children know conflict is what happens. That is placed in the perspective of life as a whole. What do you want to be when you grow up? He asks them what is done by conflict. What do you take away from that?
He realized he had a responsibility to address these issues not only with his children but also in his work after becoming a father himself. When my dad was a teacher, he used to say that the two most difficult things a human can learn is how to walk and how to speak. You are told to sit and shut up from the beginning. There are only two things that you need to teach children to be a contributing member of society in order to be able to empathise with them.
The murals that were created by groups on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland influenced him greatly as an artist. It took someone else to point out the impact of the murals on my work. The nationalist murals and militant loyalist murals are both very graphic in nature.
He believes it is important to speak out and try to make a difference as an artist who has witnessed conflict. Say Nothing is a well-known book about Northern Ireland. You just say nothing for your own sake. I can talk about some of the issues with my art because I have a language with it. There is a responsibility and there is a power in being able to communicate.
The things kids need to learn are empathy and curiosity
The subtle message of the book is that human beings need to unite and protect life on earth instead of fighting over something that doesn't really matter. The mentality of "Me and us" is dangerous.
He doesn't believe that weather changes and temperature shifts will be good for the planet. Right now, that is our greatest enemy. That is what we need to fight. We are too focused on our common enemy to do that.
His previous book, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, was named book of the year by Time magazine and became an award-winning animated film. The rest of the universe is something we are interested in. This place is important. This is the place that's home. That needs to be looked after more than any other thing.
Oliver Jeffers' novel Back on Earth was published byHarperCollins at 1699. You can buy a copy from guardianbookshop.com for just over 14 bucks.
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