Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp
By Tanya Smith,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Powerful story of 1930s Dust Bowl families.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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Based on 1 parent review
Great history of the Dust Bowl
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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.
Talk to Your Kids 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?
Book Details
- Author: Jerry Stanley
- Genre: History
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
- Publication date: January 1, 1992
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 9 - 12
- Number of pages: 86
- Last updated: July 12, 2017
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