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Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States
The Testimony of Children
A moving picture book for older children and families that introduces a difficult topic, amplifying the voices and experiences of immigrant children detained at the border between Mexico and the US. The children's actual words (from publicly available court documents) are assembled to tell one heartbreaking story, in both English and Spanish (back to back). Each spread is illustrated in striking full-color by a different Latinx artist. A portion of sales will be donated to human rights organizations that work with children on the border.
A moving picture book for older children and families that introduces a difficult topic, amplifying the voices and experiences of immigrant children detained at the border between Mexico and the US. The children's actual words (from publicly available court documents) are assembled to tell one heartbreaking story, in both English and Spanish (back to back). Each spread is illustrated in striking full-color by a different Latinx artist. A portion of sales will be donated to human rights organizations that work with children on the border.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 2021
1 person is currently reading
657 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 181 reviews
March 28, 2021
5 "heartbreaking, important, poignant" stars !!!
2020 Honorable Mention with High Distinction Read
Of all the books I read this year....this is the most important....a children's book you say...yes a children's book full of pain, love and beauty.
This is a collaboration by children's advocates that visited a detention centre in Clint Texas and worked and spoke with the children there that ranged from age 4 to 17 from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and other southern countries. They have already faced many hardships and are now trying to reunite with family throughout the United States. They can be held for weeks in overcrowded unsanitary conditions with little access to food and medical care. They try and care for each other but they are frightened and often traumatized and really require parental care and love.
Why does this go on in a civilized country ? O that's right for the same reasons many of our Canadian Indigenous don't have access to clean drinking water ? Or our trans children are murdered ? Or our elderly die like flies in nursing homes due to Covid ?
This is a book with beautiful artwork by Latino artists with quotes from the children around their experiences, their hopes, their hardships and their dreams. This is a book that will make you ball your eyes out if you have any decency.
The book educates children and also gives very helpful information to elicit social change and how they and their families can help. The book is done twice...once in English and once in Spanish.
A portion of the purchase price of each book goes to Project Amplify which provides legal support to children in migration.
Thank you to Netgalley, the children, artists and advocates as well as Workman Publishing Group for an e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is to be released in April 2021.
Here is a child's drawing from being held in detention.
2020 Honorable Mention with High Distinction Read
Of all the books I read this year....this is the most important....a children's book you say...yes a children's book full of pain, love and beauty.
This is a collaboration by children's advocates that visited a detention centre in Clint Texas and worked and spoke with the children there that ranged from age 4 to 17 from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and other southern countries. They have already faced many hardships and are now trying to reunite with family throughout the United States. They can be held for weeks in overcrowded unsanitary conditions with little access to food and medical care. They try and care for each other but they are frightened and often traumatized and really require parental care and love.
Why does this go on in a civilized country ? O that's right for the same reasons many of our Canadian Indigenous don't have access to clean drinking water ? Or our trans children are murdered ? Or our elderly die like flies in nursing homes due to Covid ?
This is a book with beautiful artwork by Latino artists with quotes from the children around their experiences, their hopes, their hardships and their dreams. This is a book that will make you ball your eyes out if you have any decency.
The book educates children and also gives very helpful information to elicit social change and how they and their families can help. The book is done twice...once in English and once in Spanish.
A portion of the purchase price of each book goes to Project Amplify which provides legal support to children in migration.
Thank you to Netgalley, the children, artists and advocates as well as Workman Publishing Group for an e-copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is to be released in April 2021.
Here is a child's drawing from being held in detention.
May 17, 2022
One of the most devastatingly, breathtakingly and deliberately cruel policies ever inflicted by the American government was the "family separation" policy inflicted by the last administration on the migrant families, with permanently lasting consequences on the children in particular but also on the reputation of this country in the world. But let the children speak, as these researchers did, in this bilingual edition illustrated by a range of fabulous picture book illustrators, with useful essays.
My only complaint is that it is almost too painful to read, even for me as an adult. I can't quite imagine allowing children to read it alone, and the creators don't even recommend that. They want parents to read it with kids. And they need to know that human beings can be this evil to children, but how early do they need to know it? I did not love this book; I hated it, and it filled me with rage and shame, and I have lived through a lot of shameful history. But I am glad I read it even as we admit hordes of equally deserving refugee families from Ukraine.
Important book that reminded me right away of Children in Crisis by Robert Coles, who was hired to do therapy with the child victims of racism also in this country who were screamed at by racists day after day as they were invited to help integrate the schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the fifties. Many of the children, just as the children of this book, were inflicted with mutism, so traumatized they were unable to speak. Coles got them to draw when they had no words. Have the courage to read this book. But it will not make you patriotic unless you realize that the publication itself is a kind of act of patriotism, a cry for the future.
My only complaint is that it is almost too painful to read, even for me as an adult. I can't quite imagine allowing children to read it alone, and the creators don't even recommend that. They want parents to read it with kids. And they need to know that human beings can be this evil to children, but how early do they need to know it? I did not love this book; I hated it, and it filled me with rage and shame, and I have lived through a lot of shameful history. But I am glad I read it even as we admit hordes of equally deserving refugee families from Ukraine.
Important book that reminded me right away of Children in Crisis by Robert Coles, who was hired to do therapy with the child victims of racism also in this country who were screamed at by racists day after day as they were invited to help integrate the schools of Little Rock, Arkansas, in the fifties. Many of the children, just as the children of this book, were inflicted with mutism, so traumatized they were unable to speak. Coles got them to draw when they had no words. Have the courage to read this book. But it will not make you patriotic unless you realize that the publication itself is a kind of act of patriotism, a cry for the future.
April 13, 2021
These are heartbreaking stories of children detained at the U.S. border. In their own voices, they share the reasons why they had to leave the countries of their birth, the journey from their country and the dangers involved, and how they were treated once they crossed the wire fence with the sign that said ’Welcome to America,’
It’s shocking that this has continued for years. Years with children living in unsanitary conditions, being given ‘food’ that doesn’t offer proper nourishment for children whose health depends on it. These were the first people who came to my mind when COVID first entered the U.S., so this isn’t the first book I’ve read about this issue, but it is the first that focuses solely on these young children and shares their voices along with beautiful, colourful illustrations, sharing their journeys, their fears, along with their emotions.
’We were kept in a cage. It is very crowded. There is no room to move without stepping over others. There’s not even enough room for the baby to crawl.’
This is an important, if heartbreaking, book - especially important for families with young children. One that will help parents begin a conversation with their children. The children they spoke with range from 4 to 17, and their reasons for needing to come to America vary, but the conditions they are still being kept under are horrifying. Unsanitary. Lack of adequate, healthy food. Most often, lacking love and the caring touch of their parents when they are separated.
Shared by children’s advocates who spoke with these children, listened to their stories, their goal is to reunite these children with their families. Their stories don’t need any embellishment, their stories are moving on their own with nothing more than the simple truth, and the reminder of everything America is supposed to stand for, to cherish, to hold true.
’A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Please check out my friend Jaidee's review, which led me to this book.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Published: 13 Apr 2021
Many thanks for the ARC provided by Workman Publishing Company and Project Amplify
February 4, 2021
I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.
Hear my voice is a heartbreaking true account told by children who are detained within detention centres in the USA.
This book broke my heart. The inhumane way these children are treated is beyond comprehension. Children are the future and no matter race, religion, nationality, skin colour, place of birth etc we should all be treated with basic human rights - there is no excuse for how these poor children are being treated. They are firstly separated from their families and held in these facilities with no privacy, mixed with boys and girls, little food, no washing facilities (so they are left dirty for weeks), spoken to horrifically, woken during the night for fun, left to sleep on concrete floors and benches huddled together for warmth....the list goes on!
This book tells of all these horrific things from the voices of the children there experiencing this. It is the 21st century and these facilities are no different to concentration camps in the war!
The back of the book tells adults and children ways they can help make a difference and all proceeds from the purchase of this book go towards project amplify which helps and supports children during migration.
Please purchase a copy and help support this very important cause.
Hear my voice is a heartbreaking true account told by children who are detained within detention centres in the USA.
This book broke my heart. The inhumane way these children are treated is beyond comprehension. Children are the future and no matter race, religion, nationality, skin colour, place of birth etc we should all be treated with basic human rights - there is no excuse for how these poor children are being treated. They are firstly separated from their families and held in these facilities with no privacy, mixed with boys and girls, little food, no washing facilities (so they are left dirty for weeks), spoken to horrifically, woken during the night for fun, left to sleep on concrete floors and benches huddled together for warmth....the list goes on!
This book tells of all these horrific things from the voices of the children there experiencing this. It is the 21st century and these facilities are no different to concentration camps in the war!
The back of the book tells adults and children ways they can help make a difference and all proceeds from the purchase of this book go towards project amplify which helps and supports children during migration.
Please purchase a copy and help support this very important cause.
June 14, 2022
"In the children's own words." This is a powerful book that calls for action. Thankfully it includes a list of ways we can help. The first one is by reading this book.
May 10, 2024
Children caught between borders tell their heartbreaking stories. Art is amazing. I wish all politicians could agree on one thing: there are lots of children who are caught between the political 'walls' we have erected and placed around them. We really have to make more of an effort to address the growing problem of children being placed in very dangerous situations.
April 30, 2022
In the Foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek of the Human Rights Watch, he explained that many children are mute at the border and “experienced nightmares, loss of appetite, or feelings of hopelessness or despair after they were locked up.” The Border Patrol Station in Clint, Texas about 30 minutes from El Paso was built to hold adults for a few hours in around a half-dozen “cinder-block cells, each with a single toilet.” By April and May 2019, around 700 children were in the overcrowded facility, which had been expanded after the loading dock and warehouse were converted to add space. In June 2019, when he first visited, there were approximately 350 children. “Some had been there for weeks.”
This is a book by children from ages five to seventeen for children about their neglect, abuse, courage, and hope about their migration, separation from their families, and detention at the Mexican border. They share their ages, where, why, and how they came, and what happened after they arrived. In this English and Spanish bi-lingual edition 17 artists portray their separation, the loneliness, the unsanitary and inhumane conditions, the taunting, the abuse, the hunger, the humiliation, the sickness, and their wants, hopes, and wishes.
Co-Founder of Project Amplify Warren Binford was “an international children’s rights expert ... working to protect children and families and to combat child exploitation around the world” when he was asked in 2017 to look at mistreatment in his own country, the United States. He stated that a settlement reached in the Flores case in California, which spent a decade in litigation, provided some basic principles for children’s rights - a quick release to the parents or family in the U.S. if possible and “they would be properly cared for in safe, clean conditions including access to toilets and sinks, drinking water, food, medical assistance, appropriate temperature control and ventilation, and with adequate supervision.” Unfortunately, “[t]o this day, U.S. government has still not made these basic protections permanent for children in government care.” He provides questions for the reader to ponder and ask and ways that a child and family can help.
I highly recommend this commendable child’s book for either a child or an adult to learn about how the separation and detention policies impact migrant children. You can read the detained children’s accounts at www.project-amplify.org/declarations. The book’s proceeds are donated to Project Amplify, “an organization that seeks to establish legal protections for children in migration detained by the United States government.”
This is a book by children from ages five to seventeen for children about their neglect, abuse, courage, and hope about their migration, separation from their families, and detention at the Mexican border. They share their ages, where, why, and how they came, and what happened after they arrived. In this English and Spanish bi-lingual edition 17 artists portray their separation, the loneliness, the unsanitary and inhumane conditions, the taunting, the abuse, the hunger, the humiliation, the sickness, and their wants, hopes, and wishes.
Co-Founder of Project Amplify Warren Binford was “an international children’s rights expert ... working to protect children and families and to combat child exploitation around the world” when he was asked in 2017 to look at mistreatment in his own country, the United States. He stated that a settlement reached in the Flores case in California, which spent a decade in litigation, provided some basic principles for children’s rights - a quick release to the parents or family in the U.S. if possible and “they would be properly cared for in safe, clean conditions including access to toilets and sinks, drinking water, food, medical assistance, appropriate temperature control and ventilation, and with adequate supervision.” Unfortunately, “[t]o this day, U.S. government has still not made these basic protections permanent for children in government care.” He provides questions for the reader to ponder and ask and ways that a child and family can help.
I highly recommend this commendable child’s book for either a child or an adult to learn about how the separation and detention policies impact migrant children. You can read the detained children’s accounts at www.project-amplify.org/declarations. The book’s proceeds are donated to Project Amplify, “an organization that seeks to establish legal protections for children in migration detained by the United States government.”
December 23, 2020
I don't have a tag for atrocities.
Reading the words of these children who have been detained at the border is horrifying. Who are we? What does it mean to be an American if this is how we treat CHILDREN?
This is an important book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before the April 2021 publication.
Reading the words of these children who have been detained at the border is horrifying. Who are we? What does it mean to be an American if this is how we treat CHILDREN?
This is an important book. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before the April 2021 publication.
April 11, 2021
On an initial read, I found this to be a well-done book. The docu-picture book format (quoting and illustrating court documents from children being held at our border) is intriguing and a helpful way to educate kids about the atrocities being committed by our government against people trying to enter into the U.S. (a necessary education that kids aren't getting - we teach them the horrors of history but not of the present). Not to mention it's illustrated by Latinx artists and sales from the book go to various human rights orgs trying to help the border crisis.
Included in the book are details about poor living conditions and children being made to look after younger kids. It is....a lot, both visually and text-wise, so even though it's a picture book, I'd hesitate to share this with a kid under grade school age. Not necessarily because of the horror of the stories, but more so because the text really requires an adult reading it with the child and being present for a discussion/Q&A about the content, and that's just a lot of info to process for, say, a preschooler. I can see being able to best read and discuss this with older elementary kids.
Included in the book are details about poor living conditions and children being made to look after younger kids. It is....a lot, both visually and text-wise, so even though it's a picture book, I'd hesitate to share this with a kid under grade school age. Not necessarily because of the horror of the stories, but more so because the text really requires an adult reading it with the child and being present for a discussion/Q&A about the content, and that's just a lot of info to process for, say, a preschooler. I can see being able to best read and discuss this with older elementary kids.
March 3, 2023
Why?
There are so many questions, few answers. Shady missing child cases... we've got to do something, people. We are all brothers on this earth.
There are so many questions, few answers. Shady missing child cases... we've got to do something, people. We are all brothers on this earth.
September 20, 2021
So many need to read this and understand.
November 4, 2024
Trying not to get tears on the library book. The stories made me physically feel ill. I cannot imagine treating children this way it's disgustingly sick and wrong and would be (rightly) punished if anyone but the government was committing these abuses.
October 14, 2021
Beautiful illustrations from a dozen or so Latinx (predominantly Mexican/Chicanx) artists to accompany the feelings and experiences of children who have been imprisoned at detention centres. They've been denied healthcare, safe and comfortable shelter, adequate food, and compassion. Their humanity. Seeing their words on the page is moving and angering. This book belongs in schools and libraries. It is testimonies of injustice.
Also features a Spanish side and notes/talking points for readers.
Also features a Spanish side and notes/talking points for readers.
November 8, 2021
An amazingly moving book! Quite a heavy read however extremely educational whilst also remaining still accurate and respectful to the culture the book is related to. There are so many hidden messages within this book, for example: people with bird heads indicating their situation to be that of something like an animal, the concept of 'wishing on a star' and the idea of 'broken dreams' on a page indicating a child trying to reach for a star symbolising them creating a wish with the juxtaposition of 10's of broken stars along the floor. A major yet minimal aspect within the imaging of this book is mid-way through the images have layering and the print of an American newspaper is visible for which adds a sense of realism to the picture book, reminding the reader this is a real situation.
I do believe it is essential for children to be opened up to and uncensored to books like this one which show a very real idea of what is going on outside 'their world' yet told in a very child friendly way.
I do believe it is essential for children to be opened up to and uncensored to books like this one which show a very real idea of what is going on outside 'their world' yet told in a very child friendly way.
May 18, 2021
THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE READ BY EVERYONE!!!! No two ways about it. Children NEED basic care and attention and they aren't getting it in these detention centers. This is a complilation of stories by children for children. Illustrations are beautiful and haunting.
December 16, 2021
I believe this is an important book with important stories to tell. I believe the motive of this book is very political and wish it was less blatant. The problem I see is that if this book is intending to spark change in mindset with supporters of strict border policies, mentioning their leader Trump in the accusatory way will instantly anger them instead. This is just my observation from having opposing viewpoints to my own family members. I would have liked to see this book ONLY focus on the conditions and actively avoid the politics as a way to attract support of some more conservative doubters by appealing to the humanitarian aspects because I believe that no one truly wants children to suffer. But people need to be made to understand the conditions really exist and it isn't just "fake news."
The foreword of the book sets up a dramatic scene of horrific conditions at a border detention facility in Clint, Texas. I think it is important backstory to set up the rest of the book.
I initially didn't realize so many illustrators were a part of the project so felt that each page was a little disjointed and not cohesive with the previous page. It would have been nice to have the list of artists at the FRONT of the book after the forward to make it more clear that the different style illustrations was intentional.
I wasn't sure if the initial illustrations that say "I am eight years old" "I am five years old" and the next page "I came from Mexico" "I am from Guatemala" were supposed to coordinate with the stories on the following pages. I think the distinct illustrations help somewhat to identify that we are reading distinct stories from different children.
Due to the maturity of content, even though it is a picture book, I think kids 3rd grade and older would best understand it. There is one pretty scary illustration/spread with a demon looking figure that talks about gangs killing people.
2021 book - Workman publishing
The foreword of the book sets up a dramatic scene of horrific conditions at a border detention facility in Clint, Texas. I think it is important backstory to set up the rest of the book.
I initially didn't realize so many illustrators were a part of the project so felt that each page was a little disjointed and not cohesive with the previous page. It would have been nice to have the list of artists at the FRONT of the book after the forward to make it more clear that the different style illustrations was intentional.
I wasn't sure if the initial illustrations that say "I am eight years old" "I am five years old" and the next page "I came from Mexico" "I am from Guatemala" were supposed to coordinate with the stories on the following pages. I think the distinct illustrations help somewhat to identify that we are reading distinct stories from different children.
Due to the maturity of content, even though it is a picture book, I think kids 3rd grade and older would best understand it. There is one pretty scary illustration/spread with a demon looking figure that talks about gangs killing people.
2021 book - Workman publishing
April 19, 2021
Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States is a children's picture book compiled by Warren Binford for Project Amplify with a forward by Michael Garcia Bochenek. It a devastating first-person account of children's experiences in detention at the southern U.S. border.
Binford, founder of Project Amplify, assembles the testimonies of sixty-one migrant children from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, ages five to seventeen, in this hard-hitting, movingly illustrated book that utilizes the talents of seventeen Mexican and Mexican American artists to share truths of life in U.S. Border Patrol and detention facilities.
In English and Spanish, the text unfolds simply but meaningfully with the children’s own words, intertwined not as a single, broad narrative but in a harmonious array of voices, each with a unique story to tell. Similarly, no single art style dominates.
All in all, Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States is a powerful, critical document only made more heartbreaking in picture-book form.
Binford, founder of Project Amplify, assembles the testimonies of sixty-one migrant children from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, ages five to seventeen, in this hard-hitting, movingly illustrated book that utilizes the talents of seventeen Mexican and Mexican American artists to share truths of life in U.S. Border Patrol and detention facilities.
In English and Spanish, the text unfolds simply but meaningfully with the children’s own words, intertwined not as a single, broad narrative but in a harmonious array of voices, each with a unique story to tell. Similarly, no single art style dominates.
All in all, Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz: The Testimonies of Children Detained at the Southern Border of the United States is a powerful, critical document only made more heartbreaking in picture-book form.
March 21, 2025
This is an extremely scary book, not least of all because I will be asked what I did to stop it.
April 9, 2021
This moving picture book pairs the stories of children detained in immigration detention facilities with illustrations from 17 different Latinx artists. The stories are told in the children’s own words — in English on one side and Spanish on the other—providing an unflinching look at the experiences of thousands of migrant children who have been detained by the United States of America.
These children tell us how old they are, where they are from, how they came to arrive in America, and what their daily life looks like in the facility in which they are held. They share their fear and their hopes, creating a larger picture of the immigrant experience in our country today.
The back matter contains quite a bit of information about the situation at the border, a discussion guide for reading with children, and a list of ways you and your family can help. Ordering a copy of this book is an excellent first step, as proceeds will be distributed to Project Amplify, Human Rights Watch, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, and Las Americas to help support children in migration.
The illustrations in Hear My Voice are flawlessly executed. With a wide range of styles, each spread captures every artist’s unique depiction of the children’s experiences. Contributing artists include:
Cecelia Ruiz (ceciliaruiz.com)
Yuyi Morales (yuyimorales.com)
Juan Palomino (Instagram)
Paco Santoyo (pacosantoyo.com)
Adriana Campos (adrianacampos-ilustra.com)
Salomon Duarte Granados (saloduarte.com)
Flavia Zorrilla Drago (flaviazdrago.com)
Bayo Flores (bayobolus.com)
Edith Valles (edithvalledesign.com)
Gloria Félix (gloriafelix.com)
Mirelle Ortega (mirelleortega.com)
María Lumbreras (marialumbreras.com)
Addy Rivera Sonda (addyriverasonda.wixsite.com)
Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez (beatrizgutierrezh.com)
Daniele Martín Del Campo (danielamartindelcampo.com)
Dominique Arce (Instagram)
Raúl Gonzales III (raulthethird.com)
Some may consider Hear My Voice a difficult read, but I believe it is essential. If we continue to call America “the land of the free”, we have to be honest about who is free and who is not. We must listen to these children and their stories, and we must hold our leaders accountable for their actions and the trauma they are inflicting.
Hear My Voice officially releases next week (April 13, 2021), but you can preorder your copy today wherever books are sold, including Bookshop and Amazon. )
I would like to thank Workman Press for generously providing me with a review copy of Hear My Voice. As much as I wish these stories weren’t true, I am honored to share the stories of these courageous children.
These children tell us how old they are, where they are from, how they came to arrive in America, and what their daily life looks like in the facility in which they are held. They share their fear and their hopes, creating a larger picture of the immigrant experience in our country today.
The back matter contains quite a bit of information about the situation at the border, a discussion guide for reading with children, and a list of ways you and your family can help. Ordering a copy of this book is an excellent first step, as proceeds will be distributed to Project Amplify, Human Rights Watch, Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, and Las Americas to help support children in migration.
The illustrations in Hear My Voice are flawlessly executed. With a wide range of styles, each spread captures every artist’s unique depiction of the children’s experiences. Contributing artists include:
Cecelia Ruiz (ceciliaruiz.com)
Yuyi Morales (yuyimorales.com)
Juan Palomino (Instagram)
Paco Santoyo (pacosantoyo.com)
Adriana Campos (adrianacampos-ilustra.com)
Salomon Duarte Granados (saloduarte.com)
Flavia Zorrilla Drago (flaviazdrago.com)
Bayo Flores (bayobolus.com)
Edith Valles (edithvalledesign.com)
Gloria Félix (gloriafelix.com)
Mirelle Ortega (mirelleortega.com)
María Lumbreras (marialumbreras.com)
Addy Rivera Sonda (addyriverasonda.wixsite.com)
Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez (beatrizgutierrezh.com)
Daniele Martín Del Campo (danielamartindelcampo.com)
Dominique Arce (Instagram)
Raúl Gonzales III (raulthethird.com)
Some may consider Hear My Voice a difficult read, but I believe it is essential. If we continue to call America “the land of the free”, we have to be honest about who is free and who is not. We must listen to these children and their stories, and we must hold our leaders accountable for their actions and the trauma they are inflicting.
Hear My Voice officially releases next week (April 13, 2021), but you can preorder your copy today wherever books are sold, including Bookshop and Amazon. )
I would like to thank Workman Press for generously providing me with a review copy of Hear My Voice. As much as I wish these stories weren’t true, I am honored to share the stories of these courageous children.
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February 10, 2022
As the BBC reports, the US has a vast system of detention sites scattered across the country, holding more than 20,000 migrant children. In its special investigation, the BBC, through a series of interviews with children and staff, uncovered allegations of cold temperatures, sickness, neglect, lice and filth.
This book for ages 5 and up illuminates those conditions and more, including hunger, overcrowding, and verbal abuse. Warren Binford (born Wendi Warren Binford) is an American attorney, professor, writer, and international children’s rights scholar. She is a Professor of Law and Director of the Clinical Law Program at Willamette University and founded Willamette’s Child and Family Advocacy Clinic to provide pro bono legal support for children and families.
In this book, she seeks to bring to a wider audience the story of what is happening at the border. She writes in the Afterword: “Every word is from a child being held in a US detention facility.” She adds:
“Although this is a children’s book, we recommend that thoughtful adults are on hand to help young readers process what they are learning from these children’s accounts. The book should be viewed as an opportunity to better understand human migration and children’s rights.”
The book is told in English on one side, and then if you turn the book over and upside down, there is a Spanish version. In keeping with its collaborative nature, 17 Mexican and Mexican Americans contribute the artwork for the book.
Each page shows a different unpleasant situation to which the children are subjected. For example, one anecdote reads: “During the night when we’re trying to sleep they come in and wake us up yelling and scaring us. My sisters and I are very scared.”
The text tells of little children trying to comfort even smaller children, even though the comforters need comfort as well. And there are sick kids who are disbelieved and ignored by the guards, and inadequate and lack of nourishing food that never fills them up.
Additional information on how the stories were collected is given in the back matter. There is also a section for “Questions to Ask/Things to Think About” and perhaps most importantly, one titled “Here Are Some Ways You and Your Family Can Help.”
Evaluation: Children need to understand the issues that are roiling the country because they always seem to get wind of them somehow anyway. This presentation from the point of view of kids in their own words will help convey what is going on with much more impact than any adult analysis could.
This book for ages 5 and up illuminates those conditions and more, including hunger, overcrowding, and verbal abuse. Warren Binford (born Wendi Warren Binford) is an American attorney, professor, writer, and international children’s rights scholar. She is a Professor of Law and Director of the Clinical Law Program at Willamette University and founded Willamette’s Child and Family Advocacy Clinic to provide pro bono legal support for children and families.
In this book, she seeks to bring to a wider audience the story of what is happening at the border. She writes in the Afterword: “Every word is from a child being held in a US detention facility.” She adds:
“Although this is a children’s book, we recommend that thoughtful adults are on hand to help young readers process what they are learning from these children’s accounts. The book should be viewed as an opportunity to better understand human migration and children’s rights.”
The book is told in English on one side, and then if you turn the book over and upside down, there is a Spanish version. In keeping with its collaborative nature, 17 Mexican and Mexican Americans contribute the artwork for the book.
Each page shows a different unpleasant situation to which the children are subjected. For example, one anecdote reads: “During the night when we’re trying to sleep they come in and wake us up yelling and scaring us. My sisters and I are very scared.”
The text tells of little children trying to comfort even smaller children, even though the comforters need comfort as well. And there are sick kids who are disbelieved and ignored by the guards, and inadequate and lack of nourishing food that never fills them up.
Additional information on how the stories were collected is given in the back matter. There is also a section for “Questions to Ask/Things to Think About” and perhaps most importantly, one titled “Here Are Some Ways You and Your Family Can Help.”
Evaluation: Children need to understand the issues that are roiling the country because they always seem to get wind of them somehow anyway. This presentation from the point of view of kids in their own words will help convey what is going on with much more impact than any adult analysis could.
January 5, 2021
How can you rate a children's book that absolutely breaks your heart? We have heard of families being separated at borders, but somewhere the picture we have in our heads is still incomplete. We assume that there is some humanity left in the way those handlers would treat children. This book shatters all such illusions.
"Hear My Voice" is an important picture book, more so for adults. Though it is aimed at provoking a healthy discussion with little readers, the issues it raises will definitely provoke at least some reaction in the hardest of hearts. This book is not recommended for very young children as the subject matter is too emotionally intensive.
I loved the book for its approach. The narratives are straight from the voice of the children affected by border policies. The pain of their testimony is brought to life by the brilliant illustrations of Mexican/American artists. The dual English-Spanish narrative helps in bringing more readers into the loop.
All the proceeds of this book are going to human rights organizations that work with children on the border. If nothing else appeals to you, this itself should be a good enough reason to purchase this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. And a bigger thank you to Project Amplify and Workman Publishing Group for this attempt to improve the circumstances of those children.
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Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
"Hear My Voice" is an important picture book, more so for adults. Though it is aimed at provoking a healthy discussion with little readers, the issues it raises will definitely provoke at least some reaction in the hardest of hearts. This book is not recommended for very young children as the subject matter is too emotionally intensive.
I loved the book for its approach. The narratives are straight from the voice of the children affected by border policies. The pain of their testimony is brought to life by the brilliant illustrations of Mexican/American artists. The dual English-Spanish narrative helps in bringing more readers into the loop.
All the proceeds of this book are going to human rights organizations that work with children on the border. If nothing else appeals to you, this itself should be a good enough reason to purchase this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. And a bigger thank you to Project Amplify and Workman Publishing Group for this attempt to improve the circumstances of those children.
**********************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
February 21, 2021
This is a book about the children that were put in Detention Centers in Clint, Texas, bordering Mexico. Those kids were separated from their parents. So, obviously this is difficult material to introduce for a children’s book. It is done very well though. The older children help the younger ones and they talk about where they came from.
It is done very well and the pictures are terrific. Another added bonus is the book is in English and in Spanish so children of that region could read it in their native language. These are stories children need to know. They are also stories adults need to know. This certainly is going to go down in history as a terrible incident that the United States planned. We should all educate ourselves about it.
Money for this book is going to assist these children. The introduction is by Project Amplify which is working to let people know about this crisis and help these children.
Although this is a difficult topic to read about, it is also hopeful. It shows the incredible bravery and resilience of these children to make it through this. That they care about each other is the saving grace. My hope is that these children will all be reunited with their families as quickly as possible.
Thank you NetGalley, Project Amplify, and Workman Publishing for giving me an ARC of this book. I think that is a great service for children.
It is done very well and the pictures are terrific. Another added bonus is the book is in English and in Spanish so children of that region could read it in their native language. These are stories children need to know. They are also stories adults need to know. This certainly is going to go down in history as a terrible incident that the United States planned. We should all educate ourselves about it.
Money for this book is going to assist these children. The introduction is by Project Amplify which is working to let people know about this crisis and help these children.
Although this is a difficult topic to read about, it is also hopeful. It shows the incredible bravery and resilience of these children to make it through this. That they care about each other is the saving grace. My hope is that these children will all be reunited with their families as quickly as possible.
Thank you NetGalley, Project Amplify, and Workman Publishing for giving me an ARC of this book. I think that is a great service for children.
April 30, 2021
Hear My Voice is a small but powerful book, offering up the testimonies of children detained in the USA at the southern border. The children shown here are a variety of ages and from a variety of places, but all of them have been treated in truly heinous manners by the USA detention system. Offering up a disjointed narrative that imitates the ways in which children might speak out all at once, we see the journey they took to arrive in the USA and the things they have faced since arrival. With seventeen different Mexican and Mexican American artists featured, the art helps bring these painful and powerful stories to life. The inclusion of both English and Spanish text allows the story to be accessible by all the more people.
This is a perfect book to read with children when discussing the things happening at the USA's southern border facilities. There is so much to learn and discuss within this book that it's best to read it together, but I can't recommend that communal reading of it enough.
This is a perfect book to read with children when discussing the things happening at the USA's southern border facilities. There is so much to learn and discuss within this book that it's best to read it together, but I can't recommend that communal reading of it enough.
June 9, 2021
Written in both English and Spanish, and using the words of migrant children who were detained by the US government for entering the United States, this picture book shines a light on the injustices of our broken immigration system and its impact on children.
This is a difficult book to read, even for adults, so it is recommended that a trusted adult read this book alongside a child. There are excellent discussion questions included in the backmatter of the book. Some adults will look at this book, start to read it and say that this book is much too heavy of a subject for a child to read about, but to those adults I say... these injustices in this book are happening to children. We need to talk with our kids about hard things, and this book gives adults the tools to do that with the excellent backmatter included at the end of the book.
This is a difficult book to read, even for adults, so it is recommended that a trusted adult read this book alongside a child. There are excellent discussion questions included in the backmatter of the book. Some adults will look at this book, start to read it and say that this book is much too heavy of a subject for a child to read about, but to those adults I say... these injustices in this book are happening to children. We need to talk with our kids about hard things, and this book gives adults the tools to do that with the excellent backmatter included at the end of the book.
January 18, 2021
Review to be added to Amazon UK and US on 13th April 2021 – publication day!
This was a moving book, full of stories that need to be told.
The book is not an easy read when you look at the subject matter and the ages of the children involved but they are stories that need to be told and I am so glad that the author has chosen to write a book of this nature to help highlight their plights.
It is well written, moving and also heartbreaking and a tragedy to see what some of these children are going through, yet you also see optimism and hope.
It is 5 stars from me for this one, a very moving book and stories that need to be told – very highly recommended
This was a moving book, full of stories that need to be told.
The book is not an easy read when you look at the subject matter and the ages of the children involved but they are stories that need to be told and I am so glad that the author has chosen to write a book of this nature to help highlight their plights.
It is well written, moving and also heartbreaking and a tragedy to see what some of these children are going through, yet you also see optimism and hope.
It is 5 stars from me for this one, a very moving book and stories that need to be told – very highly recommended
February 28, 2021
While beautifully written and illustrated, this book is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever read. The voices of the actual children shine and tell their stories in sparse and powerful ways. Recommended for everyone.
This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
This unbiased review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
August 12, 2021
I wish more people knew about this important book that tells the story of the children detained at the U.S.Mexico border.
February 19, 2021
This was a tough read. But, I think that this is a book that needs to be a tough read. No names were given but the whole book is accounts of children that have been been detained at the Southern Border of the United States. There are illustrations and also testimonials of what children have been going through. This is a book talked about at home with your children. I would highly recommend this book.
August 22, 2021
A gorgeous book in both English and Spanish. I couldn't figure out why it was so heavy and found both copies are bound in one.
I believe all voices should be heard. I have many students who have gone through a similar experience or worse. This is a book voicing experiences that children have had from being detained at the southern border produced by Project Amplify. 17 illustrators contributed to this project. It's art work is amazing.
I believe all voices should be heard. I have many students who have gone through a similar experience or worse. This is a book voicing experiences that children have had from being detained at the southern border produced by Project Amplify. 17 illustrators contributed to this project. It's art work is amazing.
September 29, 2022
A very emotional and heart moving book, amplifying the voices of 61 children who have endured difficult experiences in relation to migration. As a Spanish speaker, it was really nice to be able to read this book in both Spanish and English and be able to see the difference in story telling and description within both languages. I really liked the last couple of pages, whereby the reader understands the importance of amplifying children's voices and ways in which the reader can help
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