Poverty and Hunger

Children in Our World

by Louise Spilsbury, Hanane Kai (Illustrator)

With our 24/7 news cycle and constant access to the latest headlines, the world can be a scary place. Now imagine you're a child trying to make sense of it all! What does this news mean? How does it affect me ? That's where Children in Our World can help. This beautifully illustrated non-fiction series takes a timely look at today's biggest issues and sensitively explains the crises that dominate the news in an appropriate way for young children. Each book uses relatable comparisons, carefully researched text, and striking illustrations to help kids understand the many difficulties that children just like them face in the world today. Poverty and Hunger discusses the questions "What is poverty and hunger? How do they affect people in countries all over the world?" It helps children begin to understand the way others struggle with these issues and learn about ways they can help. Where issues are not appropriate to describe in words, award-winning illustrator Hanane Kai uses a deft hand to create powerful illustrations that help children visualize the people impacted by poverty, hunger, war, racism, and more. All of the images are sensitively rendered and perfectly suited for younger children. These books are an excellent cross-curricular resource—use them to explore these important issues and tie them into discussions about food, wealth, compassion, empathy, and current affairs. (Ages 6—10)

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Poverty, Nonfiction, Social Justice

32 pages, Hardcover

Published August 17, 2017

Reviews

[Miss Sunshine girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fűűű, hát, nem is tudom. Fura volt, hogy az ázsiai és afrikai emberek is fehérek, nem tudom, mi alapján. Maga a téma és kitárgyalása fontos dolog és az is jó, hogy a szövegben kendőzetlenül, már-már rémálomba menően ír a jelenségről, csak a rajzok idillikusak ehhez. Oké, ez egy gyerekkönyv, ha már a szöveg ilyen, hogy még nekem is összeszorult a szívem, akkor legalább a rajzok oldják némileg a feszültséget.
A szöveggel nemtom, mi volt a cél, hogy sírva fakadjon a gyerek és rémálmai legyenek, de nekem ilyen érzésem volt tőle. Nagyon manipulatívan az érzelmekre hat és a végén nem átallja leírni, hogy természetes, ha dühös és szomorú vagy. Hát, ilyen szöveg után csak a pszichopaták nem azok sztem.

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The impact of poverty and hunger is well explained but the focus seems to be on poor people in developing countries (and the solutions as well). While this is important it does make poverty seem like something which is not a real concern for those living in developed countries. I understand the lack of space and the need to be concise and focused, but i would have liked more references to solutions to deal with poverty where the readers are most likely to reside.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS
2017; Barron's Educational Series/B.E.S. Publishing
(Review Not on Blog)

I love this picture book series for children. It takes on big social issues and tries to make it simple for parents to have a conversation with their children, without terrifying them. I like the illustrations in this one too.

***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***

[Miriam Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my full review here: http://mimi-cyberlibrarian.blogspot.c...
This review covers two books in the Children in our World series: Poverty and Hunger and Refugees and Migrants.

How do you raise empathetic children? I believe that you raise empathetic children by inviting many kinds of people into your home, practicing grace and empathy in your daily life, and by helping children understand that there are many kinds of people and that because we are very fortunate, we must help those who are not so fortunate.

Recently, Barron's Educational Press published the first two books in their series, Children In Our World. The two that have recently been released are Refugees and Migrants and Poverty and Hunger. Racism and Intolerance and Global Conflict are coming in 2018.

I was particularly interested in the book Refugees and Migrants, because of my activities with Justice for our Neighbor, which is a ministry of the United Methodist Church. Additionally, my grandchildren have refugee children in their classrooms, so they wonder about them and don't understand why they don't speak English and need special help in their classrooms.

I found these books to be very helpful in explaining difficult experiences to children. The text is easy to read with a topic on each page. In the Refugees and Migrants book, some of the topics are Leaving Home Behind, How Do They Travel, and Talk about Your Worries. The last two pages of text in each book allows children to "talk about it" and How Can You Help? These are important additions to a fact-based book because children are naturally empathetic and want to help.

Recently, the mother of my grandson's friend, Frederick, came close to being deported back to Nigeria. Everyone in the daycare was extremely worried about the situation, and Adela, 6, was trying to understand why this could happen. Last week when I read Refugees and Immigrants to her, she immediately identified with Frederick's situation and explained to me that Frederick's mother had gotten a card that said that they could stay in the United States.

Every Christmas, we have a family project of purchasing ingredients and putting together snack kits for a charity called Kids Food Basket, which is run by a family friend. We have tried to do other projects, but this one works best for us. The children love to go shopping for the kit ingredients and to put the kits together. Then, we take whichever children are available to the headquarters of the charity and deliver our project. Before we do the project this year, I am going to read Poverty and Hunger to my grandchildren to bring the message home.

I also appreciated that there is a table of contents, a glossary, and an index in each book. They are valuable additions to any elementary classroom and social studies curriculum. You might also appreciate the book The Journey by Francesca Sanna. It expresses in fiction what Refugees and Immigrants expresses in fact.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

I work in a school where the vast majority of my kids like in poverty. Most of my kids would be rolling their eyes. This is for kids that live outside of poverty to read about it but not really understand it.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be a fantastic way to educate young children on one of the darkest and most serious aspects of human life, poverty, and the hunger that comes with it. This book outlines what poverty and hunger are, who is affected the most, and the root causes in a way that young children can understand and follow. This book is a nonfiction informational book.

To start off with, this book offers a cornucopia of things for children to consider and think about, for the book, during its storyline, offers up a multitude of causes of poverty while stating that most of the causes are out of the people in poverty's control. I feel that this will get children thinking with a more open mindset about people in poverty, instead of falling back on stereotypes and deficit theory perspectives. Throughout the book, there are numerous situations discussed that land people into poverty, such as war and famine. When these situations are discussed, the effects and paths to poverty that stem from these situations are laid out in an explicit manner that is easy to understand and follow, while not being too graphic for young children. At the end of the book, there is a section on ways that people, especially young children can help people in these situations. I liked that a lot, for I have seen many books where the topic is merely discussed without any viable solutions mentioned.

The illustrations in the book are absolutely phenomenal. They do not merely follow the words, instead, they add depth and a graphic representation of what these situations may look like so that. I feel that, for young children, this is very important, for they may not have ever seen or heard of any of the things being mentioned in the book. For many of them, these may be entirely new concepts, thus, I feel that having images showing what is being discussed will make it easier for them to understand these concepts.

The characters represented in this book are from numerous different cultures and countries, as this book discusses poverty and hunger on a global scale, thus showing children that poverty is not something that is unique to one culture or country. I find that that is very important, for there are causes of poverty and hunger that may be specific to different regions or occupations, such as farming and droughts. This book heavily discusses some of those reasons in developing countries, such as systematic reasons and natural disasters that are out of the people's control. I find that that creates a genuine scenario that does not stereotype or overgeneralize the conditions of said people.

Given all of that, I feel that this book is a great way to open the discussion of poverty and hunger with young children, for it provides them with an authentic and not judgmental lens to look at that topic with, which is vital for actually getting to the root of the issues and finding actual solutions.

[T.J. Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! You can't start too early teaching children about hunger, poverty, and inequality.

Having children become aware that poverty and hunger are problems that affect so many children worldwide and letting them know that we can do something to help are crucial first steps on the road to wiping out hunger for good. Talking about poverty and hunger and what we can do to eradicate poverty worldwide can also help children begin to appreciate what they have and not take anything, especially food, for granted.

One question: Is there a reason why all the children have light skin? Diverse clothing shows children from different cultures, but why do they all have white skin? I would prefer it if the illustrations were a little more diverse and representative of all the world's children.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another important topic, but this one didn’t sit as well with me, primarily because of the focus on developing countries. The author notes that there are poor people in other countries too, but this makes it seem like a distant, far-away problem and not something that plagues even the richest of countries. I also was not a fan of an emphasis on charity without any mention of working for justice.

[Tiyonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poverty and Hunger is a very honest Juvenile nonfiction book that provides children with a clear understanding of poverty, what it looks like and why people are living in it. This is a great book to introduce in any elementary grade because it is realistic, without going too deep and gives multiple reasons families are living in poverty. I would gear this book more towards K-3 because it lacks further information/details that would be more appropriate for older children. The only reason I did not give this book five stars is becasue it lacks diversity in the illustrations. There are Asians, a boy with Afro curly hair, and a girl wearing a hijab, but the illustrations are all paper white. I am not sure if this was done on purpose because the illustrator did not want any back lash over stereotypes becasue technically any race could be muslin, a white or Latino child could possibly have an Afro, and not all Asians have the same skin color. I believe that the illustrator should have included skin color to add diversity and realness to the pictures, but overall the message is important. I also like how relatable the book is for children because it mentions how individuals from developing countries and refugees are affected by poverty. The book also briefly mentions how having low socioeconomic status can affect education, which is important so that children will learn to be grateful and understand that not everyone has the opportunity to go to school. The only other issue I see is that in the beginning of the book the author uses a euro money sign which may be confusing to children who do not know about currency especially that of a another country, and teachers will need to define a few terms before reading this book. Overall, students will enjoy the colors of the book though the illustrations are more straightforward, glum, and a bit bland in my opinion.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated non-fiction picture book that sensitively explains crises that dominate the news in an appropriate manner for children. I love that the book explores what poverty and hunger are and how they affect children all over the world. This book has relatable comparisons, carefully researched text, and eye-opening illustrations, children can begin to understand what poverty and hunger are, how they affect people in countries all over the world and how children reading can help those affected. I rated this book 5 stars because this book because of the use of engaging and sensitive illustrations to help children visualize the people and situations impacted by poverty and hunger more than what they imagine in the mind. I feel that this will get children thinking with a more open mindset about people in poverty, instead of falling back on stereotypes and deficit theory perspectives. I found this book to be a fantastic way to educate young children on one of the darkest and most serious aspects of human life, poverty, and the hunger that comes with it. I feel that this book is a great way to open the discussion of poverty and hunger with young children because it provides them with an authentic and not judgmental lens to look at that topic.

[blueisthenewpink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megláttam itt az ismeretterjesztő címkét a könyvön, és valóban, ebben a hangnemben szól. Nem történet, hanem gyerekeknek szánt ismeretátadás. Érthető, de nem gügyög, és nagyon fontos dolgokról beszél, érzékenyen, okosan. A végén fogalomtárral és további beszélgetésre indító kérdésekkel, nagyobb gyerekeknek (a borító szerint 6+), de mindenképp felnőtt társaságában. Nálunk a Nagy már tisztában volt azzal, hogy vannak, akik nagyon rossz körülmények között élnek, de itt szóba került a menekültáradat is (annak okaival együtt), úgyhogy beszéltünk kerítésről is, meg nem beengedésről, és teljesen el volt hűlve, hogy miért tenne bárki ilyet. Hamar kiderült az is, hogy hallotta már a „migráncs” szót, így, cs-vel, de nem tudta (vagy nem akarta megmondani), hol és mit hallott pontosan. Szóval fontos ez a könyv, ez az egész sorozat. Olvasni fogjuk a többi kötetet is.

[Rosa Portillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book helps introduce poverty and hunger to children. They go over how some people never have enough food and have very little money. The book mentions reasons why poverty and hunger happens. The book is also filled with compassion, but also overwhelming sad stories The illustration is easy for students to understand what is going on. I believe that this book does a good way of explaining to kids about the darkest aspects of life and how you can't always judge someone because you never know what they are going through. I would totally recommend this book to anybody that is looking to introduce students to the harsh thing life has.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not read this to children. This book is on all the lists of great ways to start talking to kids about hunger, so I had high hopes, but it’s not good. It’s problematic in that it fosters an us-them mentality and minimizes the scope of food insecurity in developed countries. It uses the phrase “most people” a few times in reference to financial, food, and housing stability, but even in 2017 when it was written, that was inaccurate.

[Annie ⚜️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always on the look out for something like this. Although I want to give my child everything, I want him to know how lucky he is. I don't know if that's possible so I take every opportunity. This book addresses a pretty scary subject at a level a very young child can understand and opens up the topic in a way that leads to good discussion and questions.

[Sue Mosher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very simple way to teach children about poverty and hunger in the world and what we can work towards in order to end it.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poverty and hunger in a nutshell. Explains simply to children why it exists and how they can help.

[Dipesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept. Surprised to see zero mention of government programs as a part of solutions.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Early start that covers causes of poverty and hunger and focuses on ways charities can alleviate it.

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest look at what poverty and hunger are, how to help, and how children can deal with their feelings about poverty and hunger.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very helpful and I hope all in the world that are poor will get what they need in the future so life can go on normally without dealing with losses and suffering.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this resource for when my 7-year-old asked why people are poor. Organized and concise age-appropriate explanations.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

About 1 in 9 people o Earth do not have enough food to lead a healthy and active life.

Wars, natural disasters and global warming are causing more and more people to go hyungry.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational and easy to follow. This book created great discussion opportunities for my children.

[Rachel Hinds · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good teaching resource for introducing poverty and hunger - lots of information. Quite full on but very important to dispel misconceptions and educate about the world around them.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

An incomplete introduction to poverty and hunger. It lacks a social justice lens.

[Nena Heesakkers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mooi en goed inhoudelijk verhaal met een gevoelig, maar ozo belangrijk onderwerp. Deze serie ‘Wereld in nood’ is een aanrader.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louise Splisbury packs a whole punch in Poverty and Hunger. The message of the book is timely, needed and helpful. It is filled with compassion, but also overwhelming sad stories. I felt this was no bedtime story as the illustrations would make it feel.

I appreciate the glossary and addresses included in the book to help a parent/guardian explain to a child what the big words mean and the connections to make to help in the quest to solve hunger and poverty. I also appreciated when I had a question, the next section of the picture book answered the question.

Poverty and Hunger illustrated by Hanane Kai are absolutely beautiful which makes this book a little more palatable.
The message itself, to me, maybe too much for a 7-year-old. Let's just say it's not a book they would necessarily pick up for themselves. Definitely, a parent's led discussion. As I said above, it's a good discussion, a hard discussion, a needed discussion made easier by the illustrations, just not one I would read to my child before the age of 11 years of age.

Overall I would give this book a 3 out of 5 in lieu of the extreme complexity of this the book for a young child.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Ashli Harper]

Poverty and Hunger by Louise Spilsbury is such an interesting book. It's about seeing and understanding the news and what's going in the world through a kid's lens. This is actually a series of books but this particular books tackles poverty. In a kid friendly way it defines what poverty is. Then it goes on to explain countries it affects and how it affects people. It's a book that pushes critical thinking. The author wants the kids to start understanding what's going on in the world and ask questions if they need to. She takes a tough topic to talk about and makes it just a little easier to explain.

[Kelly]

Good descriptions, but they make it seem like charities are the only way up and out of poverty. I think we should give the people in developing countries a little more credit than that.