Children’s Books for Solidarity Holiday

http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/childrens-books-for-solidarity-holiday/

FULL list at link.

by Peg Strobel

It’s sometimes a challenge to find engaging books about work, solidarity or unions that are educational without being didactic. Many of the books listed below have been honored by the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA), which, together with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, has presented awards since 1953 to books “that effectively promote the cause of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races as well as meeting conventional standards for excellence.”



Click, Clack, Moo is great for reading to young kids, and pbskids.org identifies it as effective for teaching deaf or hard of hearing students as well. It starts when Farmer Brown’s cows find an old typewriter in the barn and send him a note politely requesting electric blankets because the barn is cold. When Farmer Brown replies, “No way,” the cows go on strike. Soon the chickens join them. Broader solidarity is impeded because not all the animals understand Moo. Duck, “a neutral party” enlisted as go-between, delivers a note indicating the cows and chickens are willing to exchange the typewriter for electric blankets. Thinking he had stopped the insurgency, the farmer provides the blankets, only to be met with a note from the ducks, who want a diving board to quell their boredom. Although the author portrays the farmer as a stereotypical old white man, the story effectively uses humor and engaging illustrations to present a nuanced story of solidarity.


Which Side Are You On?

The Story of a Song returns us to an earlier period and different struggle. Published on the eightieth anniversary of its composition, the story chronicles the night when Florence Reese penned the iconic song. Her husband, a union organizer, has left their mining town in Harlan County, Kentucky, when he hears that the sheriff is after him. Interspersed with lyrics, the story is told from the perspective of their young son, who explains in simple terms the difficult and dangerous work and times in 1930s coal country. Ma composes the song as she and the kids are huddled under the bed to avoid the bullets being shot into their home. When Pa returns and hears Ma sing the new song, he says, “We can use that. It’ll bring folks together.” The author’s notes discuss the history of mine union struggles as well as the tradition of folk songs.

ain'tnothing

Writing for older kids, the author of Ain’t Nothing But a Man tells how he searched for a real John Henry, the steel-driving man who dies challenging a steam-driven drill in another famous folk song. Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson is interested in documenting the work of African American track layers who helped build railroads in the post-Civil War South. His intriguing story of his search for evidence, with its frustrations and dead-ends, reveals the work methods of historians as well as railroad builders. (Full disclosure: I’m a historian, but I think others will find it interesting too!) His surprising conclusion challenges conventional thinking about who John Henry was and how he died.