“Children are sweet and beautiful, but we want to show adults that the role of the child must be elevated; there are acute crises in countries when children have to make up part of the solution. You say children are the future. But we are the present, a present which we all have to build together.”
– Farlis Calle, child activist and co-founder of the Colombian Children’s Movement for Peace
Saludos, everyone! This week we will be tying up our January theme of civil rights with two incredible books by author and illustrator Janet Wilson. Each nonfiction book focuses on real life child activists from around the world, portraying them in an interesting medley of biographical information, inspiring quotes, photographs and poetry. These books are at once informative and inspiring, exposing children to a wide range of formats and styles of writing, from creative anecdotes, poetry, proverbs and metaphors, to statistical facts, historical accounts, and journalistic documentation. They also take readers on a tour of the world, with at least one profile representing each continent. While upholding values of justice, equality, and compassion, these books support the voices of child activists, empowering young readers along the way.
One of the wonderful things about these books is how rich each profile description is. Educators who are looking to focus on one specific region could easily create an entire lesson plan based on one profile. Given that we focus on Latin American content here at Vamos a Leer, this review emphasizes the Latin American children in these books, but they are only one piece of these books’ larger mosaic of information on the overarching themes of human rights and the rights of the child around the world. Continue reading
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