THE GREAT PEACE MARCH

A song originally written for the 1986 Great Peace March for Nuclear Disarmament (from L.A. to Washington, D.C., a nine-month event). Invoking images guaranteed to stir uplifting emotions (``The sun still shines despite the clouds''; ``Hearts beat while a thousand flags are waving''; ``Are you black like night or red like clay?''), the lyrics touch on standard peace-related themes (children, feeding the hungry, cherishing life) before soaring to their inspirational conclusion—``Life is a great and mighty march! Forever, for love and for life....'' Desimini gives each phrase a powerful visual statement, arranging her sculptural, vibrantly colored forms in austerely surreal compositions. But, unfortunately, the words don't sustain the kind of close attention the illustrations focus on them; while they may have engendered a sense of worthy purpose on the march, they're—inevitably—much weaker here when seen bare on the page. Music included; note on the march. (Picture book. 6+)