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Books – Children

FICTION

The Carpet Boy’s Gift
A young boy who labors in a carpet factory is inspired by former child slave Iqbal Masih and summons the courage to fight for his freedom and lead the children in the factory to the new school in town.

  • Author:  Pegi Deitz Shea
  • Publisher: Tilbury House
  • Grade Level:  elementary school
  • Subject Area: Teacher education/preparation/citizenship education

 

NON-FICTION

Empowering Children:  Children’s Rights Education as a Pathway to Citizenship
The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of existing models of citizenship education, finding fault with them because they fail to engage youth as active citizens in the K-12 educational system, and thus hinder their development as adult citizens.  They propose using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as an integral component of citizenship education, and they provide detailed guidance on how to confront the challenges of doing so, particularly in educational institutions where adults are reluctant to give students a meaningful voice in their own educational programs. Accompanying  teaching guide available.

  • Author:   R. Brian Howe and Katherine Covell
  • Source:  Toronto Canada:  University of Toronto Press, 2005.
  • Grade Level:  Undergraduate and graduate level education
  • Subject Area: Teacher education/preparation/citizenship education


Nowhere to be Home: Narratives from Survivors of Burma’s Military Regime
ecades of military oppression in Burma have led to the systematic destruction of over 3,000 ethnic minority villages, one of the largest numbers of child soldiers in the world, and the displacement of millions of people internally and across borders. The oral histories in Nowhere to be Home testify to the complexity and magnitude of the human rights crisis in Burma, as well as to the resilience of its people, including its children.  Lesson plans: Free download for Nowhere to be Home available at Voice of Witness 

  • Author: Maggie Lemere and Zoë West (editors)
  • Publisher: Voice of Witness/McSweeney’s
  • Grade Level: Middle school – College/Adult
  • Subject Area: Social studies


The State of the America’s Children
Annual report that provides key child data showing alarming numbers of children at risk.

  • Source:  Children’s Defense Fund
  • Grade Level:  high school – adult
  • Subject Area: social studies


The State of the World’s Children
Annual publication that highlights the critical role data and monitoring play in realizing children’s rights by identifying needs, supporting advocacy, gauging progress and holding duty bearers to account. Provides interesting data for math lessons as well as general knowledge.

  • Source:  UNICEF
  • Grade Level:  high school – higher education.
  • Subject Area: social studies, math, geography


We The Students: Supreme Court Cases for and About America’s Students
This textbook provides a student-oriented understanding of the US Constitution, utilizing cases about young people and their rights as the content and offering competing perspectives as well as context for the analysis of the conflicts evident in each case.  The cases range from those dealing with freedom of expression (Tinker vs Des Moines Independent School District and Hazelwood vs. Kulhmeier) to searches of students and their belongings (State of New Jersey vs. T. L. O.) and equal protection and the constitutional struggle for integrated schools (Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas) and many others. An accompanying teaching guide provides a simulation of how Supreme Court justices are nominated and confirmed is provided in the text, along with a copy of the US Constitution, discussion questions and suggested research projects.

  • Author:  James B. Raskin
  • Source:  Congressional Quarterly Publications.  4th edition.  2013.
  • Grade Level:  high school – higher education.
  • Subject Area: social studies, government
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