The Traveling Camera: Lewis Hine and the Flight to End Child Labor

 

My Thoughts:

Using the words of photographer Lewis Hines (1874-1940), this picture book gives voice to the copious notes that Hines took over his long career documenting America through his photos. Hines influenced many policies around child labor law because he not only shared his hundreds of photos, but as an investigative photographer, he also takes detailed notes about each child he meets. In 1916-17, he travels more than fifty thousand miles, and from 1908-17, Lewis' pictures helped gain nationwide support for child labor reform. 

For the teacher:

As a teacher educator, I am in the middle and secondary schools to observe at least 20 lessons every semester. For one of my social studies candidates, his lesson was to do a one lesson loo at the industrial revolution . It was a lot of information in 90 minutes, however, what his 9th graders keyed in on were the photographs of children working in factories (perhaps photographed by Lewis Hines). Giving this picture book to my student teacher would allow the learning to continue for those students that are already engaged in the subject so that they could learn more. The back material for this picture book, including more photos and source material is the perfect resource for an i-search project.

From the Publishers:

Stunning visuals and poetic text combine to tell the inspiring story of Lewis Hine (1874–1940), a teacher and photographer who employed his art as a tool for social reform. Working for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Hine traveled the country, taking pictures of children as young as five toiling under dangerous conditions in cotton mills, seafood canneries, farms, and coal mines. He often wore disguises to sneak into factories, impersonating a machinery inspector or traveling salesman. He said, “If I could tell this story in words, I wouldn't need to lug a camera.” His poignant pictures attracted national attention and were instrumental in the passage of child labor laws. The Traveling Camera includes extensive back matter with timelines, original photographs, and a bibliography.

Blue: A History of the Color as Deep as the Sky and as Wide as the Sea (picturebook)

 

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, author

Daniel Minter, illustrator

Publication date: February 15, 2022 (released early in honor of Picture Book Month)

My Thoughts:

This is an artistically stunning book on this history of the color blue. From plants to lapis lazuli and certain shellfish, blue has been a royal culture because of the difficulty of capturing blue. Besides the stunning illustrations and poetic prose, the end notes give a very thorough history of the color blue. This is a great mentor text for i-search research projects.

From the Publisher:

For centuries, blue powders and dyes were some of the most sought-after materials in the world. Ancient Afghan painters ground mass quantities of sapphire rocks to use for their paints, while snails were harvested in Eurasia for the tiny amounts of blue that their bodies would release.
 
And then there was indigo, which was so valuable that American plantations grew it as a cash crop on the backs of African slaves. It wasn't until 1905, when Adolf von Baeyer created a chemical blue dye, that blue could be used for anything and everything--most notably that uniform of workers everywhere, blue jeans.

With stunning illustrations by Caldecott Honor Artist Daniel Minter, this vibrant and fascinating picture book follows one color's journey through time and across the world, as it becomes the blue we know today.

Feast Your Eyes on Food (Nonfiction Picture Book)

 

Publication date: October 26, 2021

Author: Laura Gladwin

Illustrator: Zoe Barker

My Thoughts:

This graphic encyclopedia is illustration centric with just enough text and information to invite readers to skim and scan then go and find out more. The illustrations, like the cover are clean, detailed and a sensory feast. The art is the key to, as they say in the introduction to this book, feed more than just our bodies, but to use food to also bring us joy, as well as bring the world to our lips. Finally, this book is highlighted here because not only does it diversify the kinds of books students can pick up and read in your classroom, but it also hits all of the crucial characteristics of a well designed nonfiction picture book.

Crucial Characteristics of NonFiction Picture Books:

• Visual appeal - illustrations should be both  appealing and accurate
• Accurate and authoritative information - this book has a glossary, further reading references and a section on 10 ways to eat some of the foods.
• Engagingly written - the text in the book focuses on the amount of illustrations but the text is separated like a museum card where the text gives enough information in a couple of sentences. For example, for macadamia nuts, in the first sentence I find that they are natives of Australia and have been grown widely in Hawaii since the late 19th century. The second sentence gives some physical characteristics of the macadamia nut. 

Regarding the macadamia nut, a food that I am very familiar with and something that I have often brought with me as little gifts when traveling around the world, that first sentence about the nut being a native to Australia would have clued me in on bringing Kona coffee instead of macadamia nuts when I presented at a conference in Australia. Now I know and I did not have to read a whole books on Australia or on macadamia nuts.