Frieden ist unsere Superkraft: illustrating peace for young readers
How do you illustrate peace without making difficult subjects feel smaller than they are?
Frieden ist unsere Superkraft is an illustrated nonfiction book by Omar Khir Alanam for children and young people. Published by Leykam in 2026, it looks at anger, bullying, online hate, violence and war, but above all at the choices that make peace possible. I created the cover and interior illustrations.
The challenge: drawing peace
War comes with a loud, instantly recognisable visual language: weapons, destruction and opposing sides. Peace is quieter. It often appears in smaller moments, when somebody listens, interrupts an escalation or decides to repair what has been broken.
Peace is harder to draw than war.
The illustrations needed to take young readers seriously without overwhelming them. I wanted the images to look directly at conflict, but never turn violence into spectacle or make it feel heroic.
Metaphor instead of spectacle
Rather than illustrating every conflict literally, I worked with visual metaphors: two people reaching across a divide, hands putting a fragmented landscape back together, or a child sitting in front of the dark weight of war. Conflict is present, but the human response remains at the centre.
A visual language for difficult conversations
The restricted palette of deep navy and charcoal, teal, mustard yellow, orange and warm off-white gives the book a clear rhythm. Rounded display lettering, simple character shapes and a printed texture keep the pages approachable, while dark silhouettes and broken forms carry the more difficult material.
The images do not simply repeat Omar’s text. They create another way into it. A picture can open a difficult conversation before a young reader has found the words for it.
Peace as something people do
One spread tells a story set in a grandfather’s garden. A single branch breaks easily; a tied bundle does not. The illustration turns solidarity into a physical action that a child can immediately understand. Throughout the book, peace is not passive. It means reaching out, listening, repairing and standing together.
Working with the story
Omar brings personal experience, warmth and humour to questions that can otherwise become abstract very quickly. My task was to respond to those stories with images that have their own point of view, while still serving the text and leaving room for young readers to think for themselves.
About the book
Frieden ist unsere Superkraft invites children, teenagers, families and schools to talk about conflict in everyday life and in the wider world. It asks what strength means, how propaganda and front lines enter classrooms and social media, and why peace must be chosen again and again.
The book was published in German by Leykam Verlag on 27 August 2026.
Working on a book or educational project?
If the subject is complex, sensitive or still visually unresolved, send me the rough brief. I can help find an illustration approach that gives people a way into it without making the subject smaller.
