In Deborah Ellis’s most recent book, Off to War (Groundwood), she presents the real-life stories of Western children of soldiers who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Though the stories are heartfelt, poignant, and disturbing, and present voices rarely heard, the book fails to offer context for the complicated issues underlying war and the deployment of Western soldiers in foreign lands. Rarely is an alternative view to these kinds of conflicts proffered or even debated, which leads to the impression that there is only one way to look at them.

By contrast, in their book When Elephants Fight, Adrian Bradbury and Eric Walters state categorically and unashamedly that their presentation of children’s stories from war zones around the world is biased, due to the very personal experiences that these children are relating. Having said that, however, they then provide a detailed and thoughtful historical and political analysis to assist young readers – along with many an older reader understandably confused by world events – in seeing how these conflicts arise. This allows readers to reach their own conclusions about each side of the conflict.

The title of the book refers to an ancient Kenyan proverb, stating that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers most. For Bradbury and Walters, the true tragedy of war lies in its destruction of childhood – physically, emotionally, and psychologically. From the recruitment of child soldiers to the devastating after-effects of childhood poverty and malnutrition, these unwitting young victims, who have no say in the conflict and no power to stop it, inevitably suffer, regardless of which side they are on.

While most of the analysis is insightful and told with admirable clarity, some of the conclusions about the conflict in Afghanistan – such as the unquestioning portrayal of the legitimacy of the Karzai regime, and of the total defeat of the Taliban – are debatable. However, as with Ellis’s book, the tales provide a fresh and vibrant voice that needs to be heard.