A new illustrated book confronts violence without abandoning hope.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina | June 2026
Argentine journalist and writer Hinde Pomeraniec will present her new book, Why Do Wars Exist?, during an open public conversation focused on helping adults explain armed conflicts to children. The event will take place on June 23 at Céspedes Libros, where she will speak with international affairs journalist Juan Elman. Admission will be free, allowing parents, teachers and other interested readers to participate. The discussion arrives as children encounter images and language about war with increasing frequency through news, schools and digital platforms.
The book was published by Siglo XXI Editores as part of its Understanding and Participating collection, which addresses questions children often ask but adults struggle to answer clearly. Illustrated by Penélope Chauvié, the 40-page volume is intended for young readers beginning around the age of eight. Its central question appears simple, but it opens a difficult conversation about power, territory, religion, invasion and political failure. Pomeraniec approaches those subjects without assuming that children are incapable of understanding them.
The project begins from a contradiction familiar inside many homes and classrooms. Adults teach children that disagreements should be resolved through conversation rather than violence, yet governments repeatedly fail to prevent armed conflicts. Young people notice that contradiction when they see bombed cities, displaced families or military operations in the news. The book seeks to explain why the principles taught in everyday life do not always guide relations between states.
Pomeraniec identifies the pursuit of power and territorial expansion among the principal causes of war. Religious disputes, invasions, historical grievances and competition over resources can also transform political disagreements into organized violence. The book does not reduce every conflict to one universal explanation. Instead, it presents war as the result of decisions, interests and unresolved tensions that develop under different historical circumstances.
The author also examines questions that children may express with striking directness. They may ask whether anything is permitted during a war, why people who kill are not always imprisoned or what happens to civilians living where the fighting occurs. Questions about destroyed homes, interrupted schools and lost routines bring the consequences of conflict into understandable terms. They move the conversation away from maps and military strategies toward the lives of ordinary people.
That emphasis is especially important because children often experience war first through fragmented images. A television report may show an explosion without explaining what preceded it, while social networks can circulate graphic scenes without context or warning. Silence from adults does not necessarily protect children from fear. It may instead leave them attempting to interpret violence alone.
Pomeraniec has said that the challenge was to tell the truth without generating unnecessary terror. Her objective was to create a realistic book that still preserved hope. This required acknowledging destruction and injustice while also explaining diplomacy, negotiation, humanitarian protection and peace agreements. The result does not promise that conflicts are easily resolved, but it insists that alternatives to war exist.
Chauvié’s illustrations support that balance. The images avoid flags and other details that would connect every scene too directly with one current conflict. This choice gives the book a more universal scope and reduces the possibility that readers will interpret it as supporting one government or political position. It also allows the material to remain relevant beyond the immediate news cycle.
The illustrations do not hide suffering, but they include adults accompanying and protecting children. That presence reinforces the idea that difficult information should be processed through conversation and emotional support. Young readers are not left alone inside scenes of destruction. The visual language therefore carries part of the book’s hopeful dimension.
Pomeraniec brings extensive experience in cultural journalism and international affairs to the project. Her work has included reporting and analysis concerning Russia, Ukraine and other regions shaped by political conflict. She has also written for younger audiences, giving her experience in adjusting complex material without treating children condescendingly. The book combines those two areas of her career.
Her professional background helps explain the decision to avoid overly simple moral formulas. Wars often involve unequal power, illegal actions and identifiable responsibility, but they also require historical context to understand how escalation occurs. A children’s book cannot reproduce every political detail. It can, however, introduce concepts that help readers ask better questions.
The conversation with Juan Elman will extend that purpose beyond the printed pages. As a journalist specializing in international politics, Elman is expected to explore how adults can discuss current events without overwhelming younger listeners. The event is directed not only at families but also at teachers, educators and professionals who work with children. Their role becomes essential when international violence enters the classroom through questions, anxiety or personal family experiences.
Adults frequently underestimate what children already know. Even when they do not watch formal news programs, they hear conversations, encounter videos and observe emotional reactions around them. Their questions may combine accurate information with rumors or imagination. A calm explanation can distinguish between what is known, what remains uncertain and what may have been exaggerated.
The book also introduces peace as an active process rather than the simple absence of fighting. Negotiations require understanding what opposing sides demand, identifying possible agreements and creating guarantees that reduce fear. Diplomacy can fail, but its failure does not make dialogue meaningless. Explaining this process helps children recognize that peace depends on institutions and decisions.
Pomeraniec’s work is therefore not only about the causes of war. It also teaches how citizens can understand public events without becoming indifferent to human suffering. The collection’s broader emphasis on understanding and participation suggests that knowledge should support engagement rather than passive consumption. Children can learn empathy, question injustice and value peaceful solutions even when they cannot influence international policy directly.
The open presentation provides adults with an opportunity to confront their own uncertainty. Many parents and teachers avoid the subject because they fear saying too much, taking a political position or failing to provide a reassuring answer. The book does not eliminate those difficulties. It offers a language for beginning the conversation honestly.
War remains one of humanity’s most persistent and disturbing realities, and children inevitably ask why it continues. Pomeraniec responds by refusing both silence and simplification. Her book explains that conflicts emerge from human choices and political interests, while peace also requires deliberate choices. That message allows realism and hope to remain together.
Understanding begins when difficult questions receive honest answers. / La comprensión comienza cuando las preguntas difíciles reciben respuestas honestas.