Jane Addams’s life and work over decades of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries made a difference both in the lives of countless people in the Chicago area, where she lived and worked, and to the philosophy and profession of social work. From a prosperous family, she was aware that not everyone had the advantages she enjoyed. In The House That Jane Built: A Story About Jane Addams, author Tanya Lee Stone weaves together details from Jane’s young life with the trajectory of her education and travels and eventually her dedication to the establishment in 1889 of Hull House, known as America’s first settlement house. Hull House, modeled on a settlement house in London that Jane had visited, grew rapidly in its outreach to diverse neighborhoods, particularly to immigrant families hampered by language and lack of work opportunities. Combining a broad and empathetic understanding of social realities with an appreciation and respect for the value of arts and culture to people from all walks of life, Addams encouraged research and study of neighborhood conditions as well as hands-on engagement in everyday life. Illustrations by Kathryn Brown capture well the time period and the sense of Jane’s character and activities; an author’s note provides additional details of Addams’s remarkable accomplishments. For one, she was the first woman in our country to receive the Nobel Prize. This picture book biography is a fine introduction to a principled life of activism and social democracy.
Ages 6–9.
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“Whoo-whoo-who-who-who-whoooooooo….
Whoo-whoo-who-who-who-whooooooo.” That’s the sound of a Great Horned Owl. It’s
the call a little girl’s father makes as she accompanies him on a silent,
shadowy, forested moonlit night as they seek to hear an owl return the call.
It’s cold, and a little bit scary. But: “When you go owling you have to be
brave.” What a beautiful book. In Owl
Moon, author Jane Yolen draws on her own experience of owling with her family,
and John Schoenherr, who received the Caldecott Medal in 1988 for this book,
recalls features of his own family farm in his outstanding watercolor
illustrations. This is a book about the inimitable companionship of a parent
and child, about the hope that accompanies a journey, about the courage needed
in darkness, about the near-magic of the natural landscape and a reverence for
its creatures. It is also superb for reading aloud. "Whoo-whoo-who-who-who-whoooooooo." Ages 3-8.
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“A very old woman stands at the bottom
of a very steep hill. It’s Voting Day, she’s an American, and by God, she’s
going to vote. Lillian is her name.” This is the opening paragraph of Jonah
Winter’s superb picture book Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965. Winter bases his story of Lillian’s walk to the
polls on a real person, Lillian Allen of Pittsburgh, granddaughter of a slave.
The “very steep hill” Lillian trudges up is metaphorical in this story: a
journey remembering the many obstacles to voting, over the years, and the acts
of courage that enabled all citizens, regardless of race or gender, to vote.
She can see her great-grandpa Edmund voting for the first time with the passage
of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870; yet Grandpa Isaac is turned away at the
polls in Alabama due to a poll tax he can’t afford; Uncle Levi is required to
answer ludicrous questions when he tries to register to vote; Lillian’s parents
are chased away from the polls by an angry mob, and a burning cross is placed
in their yard; even Lillian, years later when she first tries to register, is
asked to write down from memory a section of the U.S. Constitution. She also
sees Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis on the Selma to Montgomery marches,
and she hears President Lyndon Johnson declare, “Every American citizen must
have an equal right to vote…There is no duty which weighs more heavily on us
than the duty we have to ensure that right…” before signing into law the Voting
Rights Act of 1965. Shane W. Evans’s strong, handsome images convey the
poignancy and power of the story. An author’s note at the end reminds readers
that the right to vote still, even now, needs protection. Ages 5-9.
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Nine months after the vicious attacks of
September 11, 2001 – in Pennsylvania, at the Pentagon and in New York City –
hearts in America remained broken. Across the world in an African village a
remarkable gesture of friendship and hope was being made to our nation in
mourning. Kimeli Naiyomah had returned to his west Kenyan home from New York
with news of the attacks, and villagers responded with the most heartfelt gift
they had: 14 cows. To the Maasai, cows mean life; they provide shelter and
food. An American diplomat received the gift in June 2002, surrounded by
hundreds of Maasai people. The event was reported in media around the globe,
evidence of the depth of feeling inherent in this gift. The hues and textures
of the African landscape in Thomas Gonzalez’s paintings draw readers into 14
Cows for America with a distinct immediacy. Storyteller and author Carmen
Agra Deedy collaborates with Wilson Kimeli Naiyomaah to bring elegant prose,
profound in its simplicity, to a true story that shows how generosity and
compassion can bridge cultures and bring healing in the name of our common
humanity. Ages 5-9.
Related activities and interviews may be found at: TeachingBooks.net
