scrounge: /skrounj/ informal verb: to actively seek [books] from any available source
Dr. Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children is the story of a courageous and unconventional woman who attended medical school long before it was considered "normal" for women to do so, and who dedicated her life to the vulnerable babies and children living in poverty in New York City.
"Hell's Kitchen" was the name of the neighborhood where she did much of her work in public health. Despite the challenges, Dr. Jo went beyond simply treating patients and tried to come up with big-picture ideas that could help this population in the midst of their poverty -- one of her ideas was to make bottles out of beeswax to help make babies' eye drops safer.
I really appreciated this story of a woman who was ahead of her time and whose compassion drove her to save so many lives. Definitely a great example for girls (and boys) today.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley
Format: Kindle
Author: Monica Kulling
Illustrator: Julianna Swaney
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: While not dwelt upon, afflictions like typhoid (leading to death), blindness, heat stroke, and other illnesses are mentioned and briefly described.
Florence & Leon is an unusual picture book in that it is pretty much a quirky romance story (not something I often see in picture books, but perhaps it's more common in French ones, as this was originally published in French), and while it's written at a level that children can understand, I imagine it would appeal more to teens and adults, though I could be wrong.
I do like the visual of the straws that each person uses to describe their particular physical difficulty, and the connection they make because of it. That's an aspect that older children might be able to appreciate, especially with a common object being used as an illustration.
Perhaps it's cheesy in places, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I thought it was cute.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley
Format: Kindle
Author: Simon Boulerice
Illustrator: Delphie Côté-Lacroix
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
With a title like Separate Is Never Equal, it makes sense to assume this book is about segregation and the Civil Rights movement, and it is -- but it takes place several years before the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. This story is about Sylvia Mendez and her family's fight to desegregate schools in their region of California. At the time this story takes place, Hispanic children were sent to separate schools than white children in some places.
The general story is framed by the story of Sylvia Mendez's first day at her new (formerly "white") school. She is nervous, and one child tells her to go back to the Mexican school. When she comes home and tells her mother about it, her mother reminds her why they fought -- which takes us back to the story of the Mendezes' battle to allow their children to go to the school nearest their home -- not to the "Mexican school" which was not equal in funding or quality.
Despite the fact that Sylvia Mendez spoke perfect English and was American by citizenship, not Mexican, she was told that attending a separate school was simply "how it was done." No one gave them a reasonable answer to their questions of "Why?" But it eventually came out in the court case, quite clearly -- the school administrators simply believed that white students were superior to Hispanic ones.
It's a very interesting story, and it communicates the timeline and scope of events in a way that children can understand. The framing of the story helps to give a context to all of the legal processes -- in the end, Sylvia is able to attend her new school with a sense of pride because she knows that she and her family fought hard for that right. It's not surprising that her case received support from the NAACP, among other organizations, because this case helped open the door for national desegregation of schools. And I'd never heard of it or Sylvia Mendez before now -- I'm grateful to author/illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh for making it accessible in this way.
At the end of the book are some more detailed notes about the events in the story and some photos, as well as a glossary and bibliography.
Scrounged From: Amazon (Kindle)
Format: Kindle
Author/illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: The court case involves expressions of racist views of Hispanic people.
Landforms is a beginning reader's basic overview of many of the different types of landforms that can be found on planet Earth. Simple text is paired with gorgeous photography of mountians, lakes, plateaus, and other impressive features of the land and water. There is an emphasis on time -- how some landforms can change rapidly, while others take a lot more time.
The end of the book provides a list of content words and high-frequency words, as well as some suggestions for further reading and other ideas to help children understand the science concepts presented in the book.
Overall, this is a great combination of literacy and science, which is visually appealing as well.
(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Scrounged From: NetGalley
Format: Kindle
Author: Mary Lindeen
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None
When I recently came across a copy of Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie, I remembered it from the PBS show Reading Rainbow -- none of the details, but I knew it was a story about a father who asked his daughter to keep the lighthouse lights burning while he was away.
It turns out this is based on a true story that took place in my home state of Maine in 1856. Not only did Abbie have to keep the lights burning by herself for weeks while the storm raged and her father was unable to return to Matinicus Rock, but she also had to tend to her sick mother, feed (and rescue!) her chickens, and help her three sisters as they managed the household.
I still find this story moving even though it's written in reader style with fairly short, choppy sentences. Most of all, I love the story of Abbie's courage, and the simple father-daughter moment at the very end.
Scrounged From: A homeschool book sale
Format: Paperback
Authors: Peter Roop, Connie Roop
Illustrator: Peter Hanson
Pages: 40
Content Advisory: A bit of peril when Abbie is almost hit by a giant wave.
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