Poverty
Poverty
The Little Princess."
Keepers by J. Watts
Gettin' Through Thursda by M. Cooper
A Band of Angels by D. Hopkins
Today is the Day by N. Riecken
Pedrito's Day by L. Garay
When Jessie Came Across the Sea by A. Hest
Streets of Gold by R. Wells
Eve Garnett's "Family from One End Street" books, some of the first in England to deal with life in a family on low income. They have been somewhat discredited on account of Garnett's occasionally patronising attitude, but that in itself could provide a focus for discussion.
Dickens's Oliver Twist and David Copperfield (especially the Micawber episodes) for a historical sidelight.
Lillie D. Chaffin, illustrated by Lloyd Bloom, called "We Be Warm Till Springtime Comes." It was published by Macmillan in 1980 and deals with a little boy, his mother and baby sister. "The wind blows through cracks in the walls, and the wood for the fire is almost gone. 'Think about summer,' his mother says." This is a book about winter in the Appalachian mountains.
Getting Through Tuesday" by Melrose Cooper?
Sidewalk Story by Sharon Bell Mathis.
Ramona and Her Father.
Rachel Anderson: Blackthorn, Whitethorn (rich family suddenly loses all its money)
Rosa Guy: The Friends; Edith Jackson
Elizabeth Lutzeier: The Coldest Winter (historical novel about Irish famine)
Hector Malot: Sans Famille (translation: Nobody's Boy) (19th-century story of a poor French boy)
Katherine Paterson: Lyddie (historical novel about working-class girl in 19th century America)
Flora Thompson: Lark Rise to Candleford (wonderful autobiographical account of rural life in late 19th-century England, with poverty always the enemy at the gate; not a children's book but of interest to older children)
Jacqueline Wilson: The Bed
and Breakfast Star
Karen Hesse's "Just Juice"
is primarily about literacy/poverty, and is a short, illustrated chapter
book.
Minfong Ho: Rice Without Rain
Minfong Ho: Sing to the Dawn
Blue Willow by Doris Gates-- a wonderful book about the Great Depression, being homeless, migrant workers--you name it is all there.
Eve Bunting: A Day's Work; December; and Fly Away Home.
Monkey Island by Paula Fox is a wonderful story about a young boy whose mother leaves him. He then becomes homeless and is befriended by two homeless men.
Author: Ziefert, Harriet
Title: New Coat for Anna (1986)
ALAN 1987
Even though there is no money,
Anna's mother finds a way to make Anna a
badly needed winter coat.
(P)
Author: Schroeder, Alan
Illustrated by: Fuchs, Bernie
Title: Ragtime Tumpie (1989)
ALAN 1990
Nine-year-old Tumpie, a young
black girl, who will later become famous as
the dancer Josephine Baker
(1906-1975), longs to find the opportunity to
dance amid the poverty and
vivacious street life of St. Louis in the
early 1900s. (P)
Author: Lied, Kate
Illustrated by: Ernst, Lisa Campbell
Title: Potato : A Tale from
the Great Depression (1997)
BGHBH 1997
During the "Great Depression,"
a family seeking work finds employment for
two weeks digging potatoes
in Idaho. (P)
Author: Stewart, Sarah
Illustrated by: Small, David
Title: Gardener (1997)
ALAN 1998 CH 1998
A series of letters relate
what happens when, after her father loses his
job, Lydia Grace goes to live
with her Uncle Jim in the city but takes
her love for gardening with
her. (P)
John Rowe Townsend's "Gumble's Yard" (American title: Trouble in the Jungle).
Author: Williams, Vera B.
Illustrated by: Williams, Vera B.
Title: Chair for my Mother
(1982)
ALAN 1983 BGHBA 1983 CH 1983
Rosa, her waitress mother,
and her grandmother save dimes to buy a
comfortable armchair after
all their furniture is lost in a fire. (P)
Author: Williams, Vera B.
Title: Music, Music for Everyone
(1984)
ALAN 1985
Rosa plays her accordion with
her friends in the Oak Street Band and earns
money to help her mother with
expenses while her grandmother is sick. (P)
Author: Williams, Vera B.
Title: Something Special for
Me (1983)
ALAN 1984
Rosa has difficulty choosing
a special birthday present to buy with the
coins her mother and grandmother
have saved, until she hears a man playing
beautiful music on an accordion.
(P)
Author: De Paola, Tomie
Illustrated by: De Paola, Tomie
Title: Clown of God (1978)
ALAN 1979
A poor juggler who returns
in his old age to the city of his birth, where
he takes refuge in the church
on Christmas Eve. He offers his only gift to
a statue of the Christ Child
and a miracle occurs. (P)
Author: De Paola, Tomie
Illustrated by: De Paola, Tomie
Title: Francis, the Poor Man
of Assisi (1982)
ALAN 1983
A biography Francis of Assisi
(1182-1226), a wealthy young Italian who gave
away all his possessions to
become a wandering preacher and protector of
animals. (P)
Author: Zemach, Margot
Illustrated by: Zemach, Margot
Title: It Could Always Be
Worse : A Yiddish Folk Tale (1977)
ALAN 1978 CH 1978 NYTBI 1977
A poor man who lives with
a large family asks his rabbi what to do
about his house filled with
too many people. (P)
Tight Times (author escapes
me, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman).
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn"
by Betty Smith. It is about a
girl's coming of age in the
slums of New York City starting in 1912. It's
one of my very favorites.
I have a dream, by King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Shake Rag: from the life of Elvis Presley, by A. Littlesugar
Kim, C. (April/May, 1996).
Diversity and Trade Books. Social Education.
60(4), pg. 208-210.
Poverty¹s Lesson
Author James Harsch
A Band of Angels: A Story Inspired
by the Jubilee Singers.
Author: D. Hopkins
Illustrator: P. Colon
Publisher: Atheneum
Copyright: 1999
December
Author: E. Bunting
Illustrator: D. Diaz
Publisher: Harcourt Brace
Copyright: 1997
Gettin¹ Through Thrusday
Author: M Cooper
Illustrator: N. Bennet
Publisher: Lee and Low
Copyright: 1998
I Have A Dream
Author: Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
Illustrator: 15 Caretta Scott
King recipiants
Publisher: Schoolastic
Copyright: Illustrated Edition,
1997
Just Juice
Author: K. Hesse
Illustrator: R. Parker
Publisher: Schoolastic
Copyright: 1998
Keepers
Author: J. Watts
Illustrator: F. Marshall
Publisher: Lee and Low
Copyright: 1997
Shake Rag
Author: A Littlesugar
Illustrator: F. Cooper
Publisher: Philomel
Copyright: 1998