Annotated Bibliography #1 Kids at Work (2 books)

Annotated Bibliographies by Deborah Vanderford

Freedman, Russell. (1994). Photographs by Lewis Hine. Kids at work; Lewis Hine and
crusade against child labor. New York: Clarion Books. 104 pages. ISBN # 0-395-58703-4

Awards:
1995 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
1995 ALA Notable Book for Children
1994 Golden Kite Award
1995 Horn Book Fanfare Selection
1996 IRA Teacher’s Choice
1994 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
1994 School Library Journal, Best Book of the Year
1995 Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
1994 Parenting Magazine Reading Magic Award
1995 Orbis Pictus Award
1995 Jefferson Cup Award
1994 New York Public Library, 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
1995 Jane Adams Book Award

Grade level/s: 4th-8th

Credibility of the author: The author used photographs along with notes and selected letters made by Lewis Hine to research his book. The author acknowledges assistance from Dorrie Bernstein, National Child Labor Committee; Janet Hirschfield, Ethical Culture School; Janice Madhu, George Eastman House and others.

Summary: This is an emotion-evoking book focusing around the photographs made by Lewis Hine, an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, depicting children in the workforce in the early twentieth century. These photographs show the children covered in filth and grime from working in the coal mines, cotton fields, seafood industry, etc. It discusses the great lengths that Hine had to go to in order to photograph these children. In the end, his photographs were responsible for helping to convince Congress that child labor laws needed to be passed to protect children and give them the right to an education.

Standard/s: National standards I, II, III, IV, V; State competencies for grade 5-#2,#6

Illustrations: There are full-page photographs accompanied with captions throughout the book. The photographs were printed as duotones using black and gray ink.

Access features: Table of contents, index, bibliography, subject index, chapter titles, captions to the photographs, acknowledgments and picture credits

Use: This book would be a great resource for independent reading for 5th grade students studying about the Great Depression in American history. The photographs in this book would give students a real idea of what life was like for poor children in the early Twentieth Century and the introduce the idea the education is a privilege that should not be taken for granted.

Personal Response: This book evoked strong emotions from me. The photographs made profound statements that text alone could never have accomplished. It is a good book to make readers stop and think about what they have and not to take education for granted. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this book.

Related text: Growing Up in Coal Country by Susan Campbell Bartoletti features many photographs, some by Lewis Hine, of children working in the coal mines. Other books sharing that same theme of childhood poverty are Children of the Dustbowl and Counting on Grace.