Public Employee Press

Media Beat
Book Review
Summer reading for union kids

Summer reading for the small set includes picture books that are fun to read out loud and delightful to look at, as well as labor history conveyed through compelling stories.

All of these selections, plus additional books, CDs and videos, are available in the DC 37 Ed Fund Library, Room 211.

“Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type,” by Doreen Cronin with pictures by Betsy Lewin (Simon & Schuster), is about Farmer Brown and his pesky cows … and other barnyard animals. What happens when they all get together is at the center of this enchanting story. Also on DVD.

“Joe Van der Katt and the Great Picket Fence,” by Peter J. Welling (Pelican Publishing), tells the legend of a Dutch man who lived in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In his town of Litterbox, there are only two types of cats—the Fat Cats and the others, who work at jobs like picking grapes.

“My Mother the Mail Carrier/Mi Mama la Cartera,” by Inez Maury with illustrations by Lady McCrady (Feminist Press), is sure to enchant small fry with its story—in English and Spanish—of an urban mail carrier.

“The Bobbin Girl,” by Emily Arnold McCully (Dial) tells the story of 10-year-old Rebecca, one of thousands of girls and women who add to their family’s meager income by toiling under harsh conditions as a “bobbin girl” in 1830s New England. When a cut in wages is announced, the mill girls rally to stage a “turnout” (strike) and protest their predicament.

“Kid Blink Beats the World,” by Don Brown, Illustrator (Roaring Books). In 1899, Kid Blink, Tiny Tim, Crutch Morris, Crazy Arborn, and thousands of “Newsies” struck the World and Journal newspapers over a penny. That was the extra penny that the newspaper owners wanted to charge these child newspaper vendors to buy their papers. This story is also beautifully told in the Disney musical DVD, “Newsies.”

“Fire at the Triangle Factory,” by Holly Littlefield and illustrated by Mary O’Keefe Young (Carolrhoda Books), is the story of two fictional girls, Minnie, a Jewish girl, and Tessa, an Italian Catholic, who are friends and co-workers, and become involved in a real-life tragedy. On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company went up in flames, killing 146 workers, some as young as 14.

“Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People,” by Bonnie Christensen (Alfred A. Knopf). Born in Oklahoma, Guthrie wrote overa thousand songs, many of them for children. He traveled all over the country singing those songs, and his story is beautifully captured in both the words and illustrations.
“Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez,” by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales (Harcourt). Cesar Chavez’s family were migrant workers, poorly paid and badly treated. As an adult, Chavez organized a nonviolent revolt, culminating in a 300-mile protest march that produced the first contract for farmworkers.

“Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! Janitor Strike in L.A.,” by Diana Cohn and illustrated by Francisco Delgado (Cinco Puntos), chronicles the April 2000 strike that united 8,000 janitors in Los Angeles through the eyes of one female worker’s son. After his mama tells Carlitos that she is helping to organize a janitors’ strike for a union, Carlitos gets support at school.

— Ken Nash and Jane LaTour