Anger over the excesses of China’s zero-COVID-19 policy erupted in rare protests across the country this weekend, with thousands of ordinary citizens taking to the streets to call for freedom and even directly challenge the ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping.

Huge crowds filled the streets in Urumqi in China’s far western region of Xinjiang on Friday, a day after 10 people there died, trapped in a burning building that was partially locked down. The incident – coming on the heels of a string of other fatalities linked to forced quarantines – sparked outrage and grief that erupted into broader protests Saturday and Sunday in Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Beijing, and many other cities.

“We don’t want [COVID] tests, we want freedom!” demonstrators chanted as they marched in central Beijing last night. 

“Everyone is angry about the anti-epidemic policy and can’t tolerate it anymore,” said Jia Yin, who joined a video call Monday with protestors in other cities to compare experiences and share advice. Withholding her real name for her protection, Ms. Jia recounted being surrounded by police during the peaceful protest in the southern city of Guangzhou on Sunday.

While China’s increasingly draconian lockdowns have generated sporadic resistance by citizens in recent months, the latest demonstrations mark an unprecedented show of national solidarity and defiance – not only against the COVID-19 constraints but against the tightening of political controls under Mr. Xi since he took power in 2012.

“We were shouting slogans until 1 or 2 in the morning,” said Xiao Qian, a factory worker who protested with thousands of others in Shanghai Saturday night.

“We chanted ‘liberate China,’ ‘Communist Party – step down,’ ‘Xi Jinping – step down,’” she said, using a screen name for her protection. “We knew we were making history.”

The theme of liberty ran through the protests, with some demonstrators calling for freedom of speech and the press, rule of law, and democracy, while also singing China’s national anthem and its opening line: “Stand up! Those who are unwilling to become slaves!”

Even with police tightening security at Shanghai and Beijing rally sites, and censors working overtime to scrub protest news and curb organizing efforts on social media, it’s clear that China’s management of COVID-19 has sparked the country’s largest wave of civil disobedience in decades. 

“It’s very, very rare that you can see a political protest ... nationwide,” says Xiao Qiang, a human rights activist and research scientist at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley. “These are the most significant since Tiananmen,” he adds, referring to the massive 1989 pro-democracy movement centered in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Andy Wong/AP

Delivery workers ride along largely deserted streets in the central business district of Beijing, on Nov. 28, 2022. Authorities eased rules in scattered areas, but affirmed China's commitment to Xi Jinping's zero-COVID-19 strategy Monday after crowds of protesters demanded he resign.

COVID discontent spirals out

After the COVID-19 outbreak struck the gritty Yangtze River city of Wuhan in late 2019, its population of 11 million people endured the bulk of China’s deaths and its first major state-imposed lockdown – a move that stunned the world and helped the country limit the spread of the epidemic.

China’s zero-COVID-19 policy, directed by Mr. Xi, proved effective initially and has succeeded in continuing to keep deaths and cases low by international standards. But this year, suppressing outbreaks of new, rapidly spreading variants have required evermore sweeping controls, seeing millions quarantined in hospitals and makeshift shelters or confined for months in apartment buildings, slowing economic growth, and creating a surge in joblessness.

The mounting frustration saw hundreds of people rush down Wuhan’s main Hanzheng Road on Sunday, breaking down barricades and clashing with police until late into the night.

Urging the protesters on, one netizen wrote that “in 2020, the national fight against the epidemic depends on Wuhan, and in 2022 the unblocking of the nation depends on Wuhan.”

“Two years ago [Wuhan] could be locked down because the people believed in the country and the government,” another person wrote in an outpouring of online comments. “But now it can’t be sealed because credibility and the people’s hearts have been destroyed.”

By doubling down on his zero-COVID policy despite the rising costs, Mr. Xi has sought to prevent an overwhelmed medical system and much higher casualties among China’s large elderly population. But with the vast majority of cases currently labeled asymptomatic, many people view the government’s measures as excessive and overly constraining.

The upshot, experts say, is that Mr. Xi’s policy has accomplished something politically that he and the party have worked hardest to prevent – discontent and protests that have unified Chinese across the country from all walks of life.

“The policy restrictions affect every single one of Chinese citizens, whether restaurant owner or migrant worker or peasant or business executive – they all suffered living under this,” says Mr. Xiao, founder and editor-in-chief of China Digital Times, a bilingual China news website.

As crowds took to the streets in different cities, they shouted solidarity with one another – Shanghai residents chose to rally on Urumqi street and called for liberating Xinjiang from its months-long lockdown. Then after police detained some protesters in Shanghai, Beijing marchers responded with chants calling for their release.

“China’s zero-COVID policy is pursued in such an extreme way that this violation of civil liberties became unavoidable, and it’s precisely those violations and the second-order crises that touched a raw nerve,” says Yanzhong Huang, director of the Center for Global Health Studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

Thomas Peter/Reuters

An epidemic-prevention worker in a protective suit stands guard at the gate of a residential compound as Beijing struggles to contain one of its worst COVID-19 outbreaks since 2020, on Nov. 28, 2022. China’s zero-COVID-19 policy proved effective initially, but many experts wonder if the no-tolerance approach is sustainable.

Political dilemma

“Democracy and the rule of law! Freedom of expression!” students at Beijing’s elite Qinghua University chanted on Sunday, as acts of protest broke out at dozens of higher learning institutions across China.

Such open political defiance by college students is extraordinary in China given how tightly controlled their classrooms are – including surveillance cameras at lectures – and have been ever since students led the 1989 Tiananmen movement, experts say.

“Usually, university students are always listening to the party, but now they are saying, ‘Down with CCP [the Chinese Communist Party], down with Xi Jinping,’” says Alfred Wu, associate professor in the Lee Kuan Yew school of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Indeed, protesters in Beijing and elsewhere showed unusual courage to speak out and face the danger of being arrested – as witnesses said some protesters were.

“We know every person takes a risk to go onto the street,” said Dong Tian, who joined protests later Sunday night along an urban waterway in northeast Beijing. A heavy presence of uniformed and plainclothes police restricted the crowd, she said, using a screen name to avoid retribution.

Many protesters in Beijing and elsewhere held up blank sheets of white paper – a means of expressing opposition without using words. That tactic was adopted by people in Hong Kong after Beijing’s imposition in June 2020 of a national security law that effectively restricted freedom of speech and other basic rights in the territory, following mass pro-democracy protests there in 2019.

The unrest poses a dilemma for China’s leadership, which continues to urge the country to persevere with Mr. Xi’s COVID-19 policy. A commentary on Monday in People’s Daily, the Party’s main mouthpiece, called for its “resolute implementation by all localities.”

“Xi and senior party officials have staked their credibility and legitimacy on this zero-COVID policy,” says Jennifer Hsu, an expert in Chinese civil society at the Lowy Institute in Sydney. “I don’t see any sort of loosening of those restrictions over the winter for sure,” as cases are already surging to record levels, she says.

The more likely scenario, she says, is that China will use its powerful security apparatus to suppress any continued protests, which some supporters have dubbed the “White Paper Revolution” or “A4 Revolution” for demonstrators’ use of symbolic blank pages.

For their part, protesters say they want to push forward with their movement, spreading word about their actions to inspire their friends, families, and co-workers.

“I am confident we can find more companions in the future,” said Ms. Dong. “Last night gave me faith in my mates – the flames won’t go out.”

Majdi Mohammed/AP

People walk past glass from broken windows a day after violent clashes between Palestinians militants, who have enjoyed increased popular support, and Palestinian security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Sept. 21, 2022.

Irrelevant and despised, feared but ineffective. Across the West Bank, Palestinians say a repressive Palestinian Authority is failing to protect citizens’ rights and leaving them to fend for themselves in the face of rising violence that many fear is threatening to spin out of control.

“The Authority is so out of touch with what is going on on the ground, it would be laughable if people weren’t dying,” says Mariam, a university student in Ramallah.

Seeing their hold on power slip, and seeking to quash any initiative that may challenge their rule, the increasingly autocratic Palestinian Authority (PA) and its aging, long-serving president, Mahmoud Abbas, are restricting the few liberties Palestinians have enjoyed: speech, political activity, civil society, and art.

That leaves Palestinians in the West Bank in a quandary: They are burdened with an unrepresentative government they see as nonfunctional, yet they are unable to articulate who, or what, could possibly replace it.

“We don’t want the Palestinian Authority; we don’t want Hamas – give us an alternative for us to support,” says Mariam, who like others interviewed asked that her full name be withheld. “Right now, no one is giving us an alternative or even envisioning one.”

This absence of leadership has been felt amid the violence across the West Bank.

According to Palestinian health officials, 200 Palestinians, including 52 children, were killed in violence so far this year, which according to the United Nations makes 2022 the deadliest year for Palestinians in 16 years. Often triggered by Israeli settler attacks that escalate into clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military, the violence has killed 132 Palestinians in the West Bank alone. According to Israeli media reports, Palestinian attacks this year have killed 31 people in Israel and the West Bank, including 10 Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.

At these flashpoints, the PA is nowhere to be found.

When violence between settlers and Palestinian civilians erupted in Hebron a week ago, the PA waited 24 hours before issuing a statement of “condemnation.”

When settler-Palestinian clashes led to an Israeli military blockade last month on the city of Nablus, halting life in the West Bank’s economic hub, the PA was implored to intervene and reach a solution with Israel to lift the blockade.

Instead, it issued a statement praising Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh’s opening of a permanent trade office in Singapore.

To solve, or to listen?

When a PA delegation finally visited Nablus in late October, residents said they received a clear message: They were on their own.

“When the Authority came to visit us, we were hoping they had solutions,” says Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, a civil society veteran in Nablus. “Instead, they said, ‘We want to listen to you.’

“We’re not the ones who should be coming up with solutions to crises,” he says. “As our government representatives you should be coming to help us.”

Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

An Israeli soldier gestures during a scuffle between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the city of Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Nov. 19, 2022.

Palestinians contrast their lack of security with the PA’s close coordination with Israel to arrest and transfer Palestinians that Israel considers a threat.

As the PA delegation toured the Old City of Nablus in late October, few even lifted their heads to acknowledge them.

“The Authority and Fatah [the PA’s dominant political faction] do not represent us or serve us,” one Fatah youth member said as the delegation walked past. “In fact, we consider them a silent enemy; ready to betray us to the occupation at any second.”

One of the few areas where the PA has been active is suppressing dissent, using what little power it has to snuff out opposition.

The PA’s crackdown intensified in the months after its decision to suspend general elections in May 2021. Rights groups say the security services have targeted critics, including Fatah members who expressed support for presidential candidates seeking to challenge Mr. Abbas. He has ruled without a mandate since 2009.

“This year alone, over 600 Palestinians walked in and out of PA jails” on political charges, says Muhanad Karaja, a human rights lawyer at the Ramallah-based Lawyers for Justice. 

Many of the detainees were taken to a prison and alleged torture site in Jericho where PA security services’ techniques are so violent it has earned the nickname the “Jericho slaughterhouse.”

The “slaughterhouse” traditionally housed members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But it and other jails are filling up with political activists and supporters of nonviolent groups, even members of factions allied with Mr. Abbas, which Mr. Karaja says is due to political changes “that are threatening Fatah’s grip on power.”

In July, gunmen in Nablus attempted to assassinate former Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer, a member of Fatah rival Hamas, in an attack for which many blame the PA. Last year security services killed political activist and PA critic Nizar Banat.

Part of the problem

“We are afraid of the Palestinian Authority, of Israel, of the settlers – we are being pressured from all sides,” says Dana, a 25-year-old youth activist in Ramallah.

Mohamed, a human rights trainer, says the international community’s support of the Authority is forcing into place an outdated system that no longer reflects Palestinians’ aspirations – or reality.

“The Oslo Accords, the peace process, and the Palestinian Authority created a dictatorship to prevent Palestinians from gaining statehood or full rights,” he says, “and the international community showers them with legitimacy and funds.”

Ramallah cafe owner Shadi Jaradat says many young Palestinians are bypassing the “illegitimate” PA altogether and are supporting open resistance to Israel.

“Instead of confronting the Palestinian Authority, these young people are going straight after Israel,” Mr. Jaradat says of a recent rise in local youth militias. “They know that by targeting Israel, they hurt both parties.”

The rise of militia groups defying the PA has harmed its ties with Israel, whose anticipated incoming coalition includes members of the Jewish extreme right. Last week they called for a stop in the transfer of tax revenues to the Authority following a pair of Jerusalem bus stop bombings that killed two Israelis and wounded more than 20 others.

Nasser Nasser/AP

Palestinian gunmen pose during preparations for a military parade celebrating the first anniversary of the Balata Battalion, a local network that identifies itself as an armed resistance against the Israeli occupation, in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, near Nablus, Nov. 4, 2022.

In a September poll by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Research, public satisfaction with Mr. Abbas stood at just 26%, and 74% demanded his resignation.

Among West Bank Palestinians, 86% of those polled said there was corruption in the PA; 59% viewed the PA as a “burden on the Palestinian people,” and 38% as an “asset.”

Dissolve or not

In a July poll by the Ramallah-based Jerusalem Media & Communication Center (JMCC), 45% rated the PA’s performance as “bad.” Yet the same poll points to an irony: 58.5% said the PA should be maintained compared with 33.3% who said it should be dissolved – numbers that have been consistent for 15 years.

“On one hand the public sees the Palestinian Authority as politically irrelevant and maybe a tool for the occupation,” says Ghassan Al Khatib, an analyst and JMCC pollster. “But on the other hand, people do not believe that it makes sense to get rid of it for practical purposes.”

Despite its flaws, the Authority provides basic services for millions of Palestinians with funds it receives from the international community and the United States as well as taxes collected on its behalf by Israel.

“Whoever dissolves the Authority will have to have to answer these questions: Who will take care of the 40,000 teachers and 1 million pupils? Who will finance the health sector? What about policing?” Mr. Al Khatib says.

Then there are the PA’s 160,000 employees, who make up the bulk of support for Mr. Abbas.

Yet even among this segment, discontent is rising; defections from the Authority and Fatah are on the rise.

“There is a new majority migrating from Fatah to the growing silent majority against [Mr. Abbas]. We cannot support him,” says Ahmad, a Fatah supporter recently forced into early retirement over what he believes was his lack of support for the president.

Another former Fatah member says he cut ties when he realized that the PA was no longer “fulfilling its duty and responsibility.”  

“I couldn’t answer my own children’s questions about ‘why things are like this under our rule? Why can’t we have a separate and independent judiciary, elected parliament, or a serious government?’” he says. “So, I decided to quit. The movement was no longer democratic nor responsible.”

Sabri Saidam, who at 50 is one of Fatah’s youngest figures in a leadership role, describes this criticism as a healthy internal debate, and denies PA responsibility for frustrations bubbling up in the West Bank.

Others disagree.

“The PA, the occupation – it is all one obstacle preventing us from gaining statehood and our basic human rights,” says Mohammed, the human rights trainer. “Our path to statehood and freedom now runs through the dismantling of them both.”

When Diane Sabato was planning her retirement home, one thing was certain: She wanted to have the smallest environmental impact possible.

To help achieve this goal, she turned to EcoBuilding Bargains, a retail warehouse for reclaimed building materials in Springfield, Massachusetts. Its carefully planned aisles and sections feature fiberglass windows, eco-friendly paints, and light fixtures, among other things. The difference here? The items are all secondhand.

A white cabinet set with glass inlay doors caught Ms. Sabato’s eye immediately. “They had just set it up,” she says. “I went, ‘This is it.’”

And Ms. Sabato had done the research to know a good find when she saw one. She spent under $8,000 for her completed kitchen, though she estimates the custom white cabinet set would have originally cost around $60,000 to $70,000. “I parked myself at the kitchen [display] and basically made faces at anyone that tried to come near it so they couldn’t buy it,” she adds.

Ms. Sabato’s desire to reduce the environmental footprint of her home is part of a growing trend. Reusing building materials keeps them in circulation for longer – preventing new items from being made, reducing carbon use, and eliminating landfill waste. Reuse also creates multiple price points for higher quality goods, increasing accessibility. This cycle cuts costs for both consumers and the climate while innovating traditional use and discard practices.

Ann Hermes/Staff

Many items at EcoBuilding Bargains, a reclaimed building materials warehouse, have a history, like this window unit for sale on Oct. 12, 2022, in Springfield, Massachusetts. EcoBuilding Bargains is a part of the Center for EcoTechnology, a nonprofit focused on climate change issues in the food, building, and technology sectors.

“As we add millions and millions of square feet to our planet every year we really have to think about the finite resources, material resources that we have and how to enable all the resources that are already out there to have a longer life,” says Naomi Darling, five college associate professor of sustainable design at Mount Holyoke College and University of Massachusetts Amherst who has worked with materials from EcoBuilding Bargains.

The reuse of building materials fits into what’s called the “circular economy” – the use of regenerative processes in industry and the economy to keep resources at their highest value for as long as possible.

“In a linear system, we extract resources from the earth, we make them into food and products, and then we dispose of them, usually right into a landfill,” says Sandra Goldmark, professor at Barnard College and senior assistant dean at the Columbia Climate School. That’s in contrast to a circular system where products are kept in use through repair, recycling, or remanufacture.

The growth in reuse is coming from the ground up. Frustrated with waste, people are looking for alternatives to the broken system of production and consumption. Although reuse isn’t a new phenomenon, Ms. Goldmark says it’s exciting to see companies, cities, and communities use technology or policy to make the familiar practice of circularity easier again.

The Center for EcoTechnology, the umbrella nonprofit encompassing EcoBuilding Bargains, opened its 30,000-square-foot selling space in 2011, after its founding in 2001. The largest warehouse of its kind in New England, it offers creative solutions for building-material waste that are in turn fostering a small-scale reuse economy across the region. It has shipped items to all 50 states and 12 countries, including easy-to-transport tile and unique antique finds.

In addition to the Springfield warehouse, other groups are working to make circularity more prevalent in the built environment.

To cite one example, Urban Wood Economy, headquartered in Baltimore, operates a model of wholesale wood distribution that aims to capture value from the urban wood waste stream. It is involved in projects in Pittsburgh; Philadelphia; Memphis, Tennessee; and San Diego, with the goal of scaling up.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

Felix Heisel, assistant professor of architecture and director of the Circular Construction Lab at Cornell University, sits on his installation, Circular Matters, which is on display in the Arts Quad in Ithaca, New York. The piece re-imagines a staircase reusing materials from a local residential structure that was slated for demolition. Debris from construction and building demolition account for about 30% of U.S. solid waste, by some estimates.

Cornell University’s Circular Construction Lab is ushering in the next generation of regenerative architecture through its design research program. Felix Heisel, director of the lab and an assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, sees recent increased interest in built environment circularity. “We all woke up and saw how much damage the built environment does,” he says.

Depending on the job, Chris Shea, manager of Domus Constructors LLC based in Fairfield, Connecticut, saves anywhere from $100 to a few thousand dollars on disposal costs. Clients also receive a tax credit from the items they donate. It’s a goodwill his customers appreciate.

Customers can expect to spend a quarter to a third of new market value when purchasing from EcoBuilding Bargains. “They could maybe buy a window for $200 or $100 instead of buying one for a thousand,” Mr. Shea says.

The items he donates are perfectly good for reuse, he adds. “Some people think, ‘Oh, this is the stuff that the people don’t want,’ but ... most people would be really happy to have it.”

How does EcoBuilding Bargains stay stocked? Items arrive several days a week through its free pickup service, which employs full-time delivery drivers. Its stable inventory is also largely thanks to consistent donations from contractors, whose multiple clients guarantee in-store supply.

For now, however, the reuse market can be erratic. Oftentimes items are cheaper, but that’s not always the case, and it usually takes less planning to just purchase new. Research is needed to seek out materials, and there’s always the question if there will be enough for a completed project. Such barriers can make secondhand shopping feel overwhelming, and are among the largest obstacles for consumers looking to reuse materials, says Caryn Brause, an associate professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who was the lead designer of the EcoBuilding Bargains warehouse.

EcoBuilding Bargains and projects like it aim to change that. The design of the warehouse imitates big box stores, like Home Depot or Lowe’s, for a familiar retail shopping experience. Signs – in English, Spanish, and graphics – guide shoppers around the store. Its budding e-commerce site was launched in November 2021, and the EcoBuilding Bargains team offers virtual shopping appointments.

While it may not be as easy as armchair shopping, the difference is tactile, says Ms. Darling. “In some ways you can think of it like treasure hunting, because right around the corner you might find something really unique that’s hard to find.”

Like Ms. Sabato’s white cabinet set. Her final house plans were tweaked to incorporate the set, a bellwether of the effect reused materials may begin to have on design thinking. “As we look at looming resource scarcity, I actually think it’s going to call on us to be far more innovative and to work with what you have and then design for that,” says Ms. Brause.

While Ms. Sabato’s home has since received Silver LEED environmental certification, reuse need not feel as monumental as building a new house.

The next big step is making used goods feel like business as usual, says Ms. Goldmark. Reuse is a really powerful tool, she emphasizes. “It’s something that is accessible and actionable at every scale.”

Staff writer Stephanie Hanes contributed to this article from Ithaca, New York.

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct Professor Brause’s status as lead designer of EcoBuilding Warehouse.

Picture books give children, families, and caregivers more than just precious read-aloud time.

Tales of love, courage, and kindness provide reassurance and nurture a feeling of connection. The ripples of shared laughter and joy spread out into the community, enriching whatever they touch.

We’ve rounded up five outstanding children’s books that touch on these themes. They’re sure to become favorites at your house. 

Courtesy of Creston Books

Gold (ages 4-8)

Written and illustrated by Jed Alexander 

This wordless retelling of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” challenges readers’ assumptions. The main character is a human girl who makes herself at home in a sunshine-colored San Francisco row house after Mama, Papa, and Baby Bear head out for a bike ride. The illustrations are black and white except for pops of gorgeous gold – the girl’s clothes, the checkered kitchen floor, and the tantalizing soup the girl makes.   

Readers familiar with the traditional story might feel a clutch of suspense as the bears pedal home, matching gold scarves trailing in the wind. The grown-up bears pause to pick up the girl’s discarded outerwear in the hallway; they look confounded by the kitchen mess (although Baby Bear seems quite amused). All three follow their noses to the four steaming bowls of soup set on the table, and they proceed to the couch, where the girl is just awakening from a nap. Instead of confrontation, we see tenderness; the whole group enjoys dinner, cleans up, and snuggles together in a cozy pile on the couch. Photos on the wall confirm that the girl and the bears are a loving family. They belong together.

Courtesy of Candlewick Press

Namaste Is a Greeting (ages 4-8+)

Written by Suma Subramaniam, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat  

Suma Subramaniam’s simple but stirring text explores the significance and meanings of “namaste,” while Sandhya Prabhat’s character-driven illustrations add narrative layers. Books about mindfulness and community are trending, and this book feels uniquely personal, powerful, and necessary. The characters express diversity, inclusion, mindfulness, respect, and a heart-glowing sense of warmth. 

When the child chooses a plant for the neighbor, a small heart flies into the air. The text explains that “namaste is loving the world,” and we understand that the girl loves the shop and its helpful owner, her mother who helped her, the little plant, and the neighbor she acknowledges with the gift. During a season when gifts are given and received, readers might especially appreciate this book’s message of year-round, universal caring. 

Courtesy of Make Me a World

Mama’s Home (ages 4-8) 

Written by Shay Youngblood, illustrated by Lo Harris

The specificity of the first-person narration in this book creates a vivid sense of connection. While her mama is away for work as a pilot, the main character benefits from the parenting of a wide range of women in her community. The girl introduces us to the people, places, and foods she experiences throughout her week. Every caregiver helps her try something new, see a different facet of herself, and feel loved in a different, wonderful way. We witness the diversity of culture within the Black diaspora and how so many people can have a positive and lasting impact on a child. Colorful, energetic illustrations add to the sense of bounty and joy.

Courtesy of Milky Way Picture Books

Clover (ages 4-9)

Written by Nadine Robert, illustrated by Qin Leng 

At 64 pages, “Clover” has an epic classic-adventure feel, but in a sweet, quiet way. Clover, the youngest in a big family, sometimes faces freezing indecision. What should they do: Pick blueberries? Find mussels? Gather mushrooms? A sibling advises, “There are no wrong answers, Clover. You’ll be fine either way. ... But don’t let others decide for you.”

When the titular character and one of the family’s littlest goats get lost in the forest, Clover listens to nature, gathers courage, and finds purpose even when direction seems difficult. The conclusion isn’t predictable: The child stays lost until the sun sets and the siblings and the goat arrive in a “luminous procession” of reunion. By the final page, Clover has connected with nature and inner strength in beautiful ways, and all ends with reassurance. 

Courtesy of Hippo Park

A Bear, a Bee, and a Honey Tree (ages 3-8) 

Written by Daniel Bernstrom, illustrated by Brandon James Scott

Deceptively simple text, easy-to-read font, plus immersive, expressive illustrations make this a delightful read-together with emerging readers. Every spread has fewer than 20 words, and the whole book has fewer than 40 unique words, a boon to children sounding out new words. Bear is hungry and wants some of the honey from the bee’s tree, but the bee and its swarm are protective of their sweet treasure. Reading confidence unfurls as the gripping story (complete with dramatic pictures) progresses. 

Daniel Bernstrom has won read-aloud awards, and his mastery is on display here. Lines like “a grumbling bee / a rumbling tree / a million fuzzy buzzing bees” are irresistible. By the second read-through, the audience will be reading along, recognizing words and anticipating plot points. 

Reuters

Head of the Tigray Forces, Lt. Gen. Tadesse Werede, left, and chief of Ethiopian Armed Forces, Field Marshall Birhanu Jula, read an agreement at talks in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 12.

The civil war that engulfed a region of Ethiopia over the past two years and threatened wider instability in the Horn of Africa resulted in an estimated 1 million deaths. Its toll has sharpened an appreciation for better leadership on the continent and may shape the dialogue at a coming U.S.-African summit in December.

An example of such leadership was seen in the peace accord signed in early November by the Ethiopian government and rebel forces in the state of Tigray. The accord turned on a rare concession by the Tigrayans. Neither side had an outright military advantage, said Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, in a Lawfare podcast. But the Tigrayan leadership “decided that the human price was too high a cost to pay, so they would not continue the war and instead sue for peace,” he said.

The Tigrayans sparked the war to defend their regional autonomy under Ethiopia’s federal system that tries to balance competing ethnicities. Their decision to accept a peace accord, one that tilts in favor of the government, may end one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. It also reflects a growing norm in Africa to put the greater good above the interests of individual leaders or a dominant party. Over the past quarter century, Africa has made some notable democratic gains. Elections are more transparent. Opposition parties are more competitive. South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, is now in jail for refusing to testify in a corruption inquiry. 

While West Africa has seen a resurgence in military coups, elsewhere the rule of law is becoming more entrenched and the peaceful transfer of power more common. That marks a break from the era after independence decades ago, when strongmen and strong parties ruled with impunity.

The shift reflects the aspirations of younger generations who are better educated and increasingly reject blaming their nations’ problems on a colonial past. Opinion surveys of Africans under the age of 30 show consistent demand for democracy as well as rising optimism. A 2021 Gallup Poll found that 54% of young Africans say their living standards are improving.

“We Africans need to stop complaining about a past we can do nothing to change and start focusing on the future we can own,” Mo Ibrahim, founder of an eponymous foundation that promotes excellence in African leadership, wrote in Foreign Affairs. “We need to look forward, work on our development, and rely on ourselves.”

The heart of the Ethiopian peace accord, the African Union’s chief mediator Olusegun Obasanjo wrote in Semafor, rests on “the truth that there is ‘no victor, no vanquished’” as the basis for “common security and shared prosperity.” As an African solution to an African problem, it provides a marker for a continent still pursuing unity and prosperity through higher ideals of self-government.