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Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
- By Jerry Stanley
- Genre: History
Common Sense Media says
Powerful story of 1930s Dust Bowl families.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that a matter-of-fact writing style and striking photographs combine to tell the intense, personal story of dislocated children and the school they attended. This book will educate readers about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and its
impact on families, and also get them thinking about some deeper issues
like prejudice -- and also why it's important to keep history alive. The migrant families and their supporters are victims of violent acts, including arson and property destruction (those these acts are only mentioned, not described). Photographs
vividly depict the migrants' squalid living conditions and emotional
pain.
What's the story?
Broke but not broken were the 1930s Dust Bowl families who fled the parched Midwest for the fertile fields of central California. But instead of paradise, what they found was prejudice, hostility, and the indignity of living in a federal labor camp. In CHILDREN OF THE DUST BOWL, vivid black-and-white photographs depict
the deplorable conditions migrant families fled, only to find misery
once again, in what they had hoped was the promised land of central
California. At the core of the book is the story of a remarkable man,
Kern County school administrator Leo Hart, who spearheaded an effort to
build Weedpatch School, a special institution just for migrant children.
The school was such a success that the same adults who wanted the Okie
kids thrown out of regular school later begged to let their own children
attend Weedpatch School.
Is it any good?
The book's haunting photographs deliver an emotional wallop: Two dirty toddlers stand naked in a metal tub; a broken-down Okie car, piled high with people and possessions, sits on the side of the road. This powerful must-read
details the migrants' struggles and the Weedpatch School, and will get readers thinking about the price of prejudice -- and the importance hope. Readers will appreciate learning the fate of many of the children mentioned in the book, and that there are several success stories.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about migration and prejudice. Ask kids: How is a story like this one -- which happened in the 1930s -- relevant to your world today?
What do you think of the combination of words and photographs here? How do the pictures add to the story? Would it have been as powerful without them?
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| Author: | Jerry Stanley |
| Book type: | Non-Fiction |
| Genre: | History |
| Publisher: | Crown Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1992 |
| Number of pages: | 86 |
| Paperback price: | $9.95 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 9 - 12 |
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