This Dark Children’s Book Is a Shocking Campaign to Protest Gun Violence

On May 10, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and read aloud from a children’s book to members of Congress. 

“The end of the day was also my own,” she read. “Bled out on the floor and never got home.”

These chilling words tell the story of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Titled “Joaquin’s First School Shooting,” the mock children’s book read by Rep. Clark is not actually for kids­, but for the “childish politicians” failing to take action to curb gun violence in the U.S.

Change the Ref, the organization founded by Joaquin’s parents Patricia and Manuel Oliver, created the book with agency BCW. The juxtaposition between an innocent-looking book and the horrific story inside is purposeful, said BCW chief creative officer Fede Garcia. 

“It needed to be something that wakes people up. People are numb,” Garcia told Adweek. “Every time a shooting happens, we get ridiculous answers from politicians. We decided, if they’re going to give us childish answers, maybe we should explain the situation in their own terms.” 

A true story

BCW reached out to Change the Ref and began working on the children’s book about a year ago, after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. 

The agency took up this cause because gun violence “is an issue that cuts across all communities and impacts all our employees,” said Mary Corcoran, BCW’s president for North America. “We know there are a lot of different ideas on how to address gun violence in the U.S. What we can all agree on is that the status quo is not working.” 

To challenge the status quo, Change the Ref says on its website that it “uses urban art and nonviolent creative confrontation to expose the disastrous effects of the mass shooting pandemic.” 

Its previous campaigns have included The Lost Class, created by Leo Burnett Chicago, which duped a National Rifle Association (NRA) leader to speak at a fake graduation ceremony representing the 3,044 victims of gun violence who should have graduated in 2021. The Lost Class has won numerous industry awards, including a D&AD Black Pencil and a Titanium Lion at last year’s Cannes Lions. 

For Change the Ref’s latest campaign, the children’s book takes a similarly creative approach to shock the public and political leaders. “The intended audience has always been politicians—this was never meant to be a kids book for kids,” said BCW executive creative director Diego Bertagni. 

But to get a reaction, the book still had to look the part. “Joaquin’s First School Shooting” was illustrated by Maria Lavezzi, who has illustrated numerous children’s books. The project also has many markers of a typical kids’ story, such as rhyming words, rounded edges and pages made from thick cardboard. 

It also features finger holes like those that help kids turn pages—but in this book, these holes represent bullets that cut short innocent lives. 

Manuel Oliver approved every step of the book’s production and served as another creative director on the project. He helped ensure details in the story, such as illustrations of typical aspects of a Florida school, were authentic, Bertagni said. 

The story is “literally step-by-step what happened during the Parkland shooting,” Bertagni added. “The illustrations are almost like the police report.”

Creative confrontation

The Olivers have been using the book as a tool to bring attention to their cause, personally handing it out to politicians. Besides Rep. Clark, Sen. Debbie Stabenow from Michigan has also been filmed reading the story. 

A first run of 300 copies of the book were published, with plans to publish more. People can buy the book for $23 and send it to their state representatives. 

Like The Lost Class before it, “Joaquin’s First School Shooting” is one of many attempts from the creative industry to advocate for gun control.

Yet gun violence is on the rise, with more than 200 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Facing this stark reality, what role can creativity play in addressing the crisis? 

“Creativity is the one tool that can break through everything,” Garcia contended. “There’s a lot of noise around this subject. But we just told a story about what’s happening to children in America.”

CREDITS:

Client: Change The Ref 
Founders: Manuel Oliver, Patricia Padauy-Oliver 
Agency: BCW
Chief Creative Officer: Fede Garcia  
Executive Creative Director: Diego Bertagni   
Creative Director: Duncan Le Cornu 
Art Director: Moira Ward, Sean Hodes  
Copywriter: Clark Davis 
Design: Jennifer Vandersteen, Sharri Luefschuetz, Amanda Moore, Amelia Herbert, Cameron Mare  
Executive Vice Presidents: Liz Beck, AJ Goodman  
Senior Vice President: Molly Dobbins  
Account Executives: Bobbi Hochberg, Lauren Gruber 
Illustration: Maria Lavezzi  
Creative Producer: Javier Lourenco 
Editors: Eugenia Rodeyro, Victoria Blanco  
Graphic Design: Maria Victoria Almonacid 
Graphic Production: Estudio India 
Printer: Akian Grafica 
Music Director: Mark Domitric 
Composer: Jeff Milutinovic 
Music Supervisor: Rich Hamilton 
Audio Engineer: Brian Bernard 
Executive Producer: Kelly McCluskey