Special Collections
Jane Addams Children's Book Award Winners
- Table View
- List View
The Riddle of Racism
by S. Carl HirschFor thousands of years men have known that the inhabitants of different parts of the world are often visibly different. But in America, for the first time anywhere on earth, three great racial groups met in large numbers on the same continent. White colonizers took the land from the native population they called Indians, whose physical traits linked them to Asian origins. Black people were brought here from Africa to serve the white settlers as slaves. "Under this set of conditions," observes S. Carl Hirsch, "the meeting of the three great races on America's soil was not likely to he a happy one." In this bold, challenging book, the author examines the historical record for the roots of the race hatred that has troubled our nation since its inception. Within a chronological framework, the book traces the search for scientific knowledge of race as a biological phenomenon against the background of political events that reveal its sociological aspects. The scientific struggle was focussed on the question of "superior" and "inferior races, from a time when white supremacy was the prevailing view of America's political, social, and religious leaders, including those opposed to slavery, to today's understanding of a concept of race its biological and cultural significance. Along the way the reader meets many individuals whose personal stories illuminate the perpetual questions underlying that irrational force which still continues to pervade our land: racism.
A Jane Addams Children's Book Award Winner.
Rainbow Round the World
by Elizabeth YatesThe author describes her travels with a young boy as they visit 10 countries where UNICEF funds were being used.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Rain Of Fire
by Marion Dane BauerWhen Steve's older brother Matthew, returning home after service in World War II, refuses to talk about his wartime experiences, Steve's friends begin to doubt the stories he has told of Matthew's heroism.
The Perilous Road
by William O. SteeleChris Brabson hates Yankees, plain and simple. Not only are the Union troops down in Tennessee where they don't belong, but they helped themselves to all the supplies his family had saved for winter. And to add to it all, his brother joined up with the Union Army. How could he betray the south, Chris wonders.
Chris wants to prove his loyalty to the Confederate cause, any way he can. When he sees a Union wagon train cutting through the valley, he has his chance. He tells a spy where and how the Confederates can attack. But then he finds out that Jethro could be driving one of those Yankee wagons! Has he just caused the death of his own brother?
A Newbery Honor book and Jane Addams Children's Book Award Medal Winner
First Woman In Congress
by Florence Meiman WhiteA biography of the first woman elected to Congress, who spent the 92 years of her life as a leader for woman suffrage, a lobbyist, and a social reformer.
The Story Of The Negro
by Arna Bontemps and Raymond LufkinA history of the Negro race, from the early tribes of Africa and empire of Ethiopia, through the practice of slavery in many areas, especially the United States, to early twentieth century achievements of American Negroes.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Meeting with a Stranger
by Duane BradleyCantuffa is a thick thorn bush which once covered much of the land of Ethiopia, preventing any progress until it had been cut away. For this reason an emperor about to make a voyage across the country proclaimed, "Cut down the cantuffa in the four quarters of the world, for I know not where I am going."
This story helps to shack away at some of the thorns which still obscure this nation. It describes the young boy Teffera, left in charge of his family's farm and sheep while his father was undergoing an operation. When a ferangi, an American, came to his small village to help teach new methods of caring for the sheep, Teffera had to decide whether he should accept this advice. His people had had substantial reason to mistrust the Westerners, and he was instilled with pride in own traditions, but on the other hand his flocks were dying.
This book has the dual value of illuminating the character of the Ethiopian peasant and of providing an insight into the problems they must face in adapting to progress while maintaining their national spirit.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Waiting For The Rain
by Sheila GordonThis novel shows the bonds of friendship under the strain of apartheid as two lifelong friends, Tengo and Frikkie, come of age amidst the tragedy of South Africa.
The Breadwinner
by Deborah EllisYoung Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Because Parvana's father has a foreign education, he is arrested by the Taliban. The family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana conceives a plan.
Children as Teachers of Peace
by Gerald G. JampolskyThis book by our children is the result of a joyous journey. From the day we were inspired by the realization of the truth in the words "Children as Teachers of Peace"... to the invitation we issued that same week to children throughout the country to express their thoughts and advice about peace... to the day only five weeks later when this book was delivered to the publisher, we have been profoundly moved by the truth our children speak for all of us.
Middle Passage
by Tom Feelings and John Henrik ClarkeThe Middle Passage is the name given to one of the most tragic ordeals in history: the cruel and terrifying journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean.
In this seminal work, master artist Tom Feelings tells the complete story of this horrific diaspora in sixty-four extraordinary narrative paintings. Achingly real, they draw us into the lives of the millions of African men, women, and children who were savagely torn from their beautiful homelands, crowded into disease-ridden "death ships", and transported under nightmarish conditions to the so-called New World.
An introduction by noted historian Dr. John Henrik Clarke traces the roots of the Atlantic slave trade and gives a vivid summary of its four centuries of brutality. The Middle Passage reaches us on a visceral level. No one can experience it and remain unmoved. But while we absorb the horror of these images, we also can find some hope in them. They are a tribute to the survival of the human spirit, and the humanity won by the survivors of the Middle Passage belongs to us all.
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Natural History
by M. B. GoffsteinText and illustrations descibe the riches of the earth and how people can promote peace and goodwill by sharing equitably with each other and their fellow creatures.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
The Little Fishes
by Erik Christian HaugaardThe story of a twelve-year-old Italian boy who, while suffering under German occupation, struggles to protect his spirit and humanity which was his late mothers only wish.
The Big Book for Peace
by Lloyd Alexander and Yoshiko Uchida and Jean Fritz and Charlotte Zolotow and Natalie Babbitt and John Bierhorst and Thacher Hurd and Steven Kellogg and Myra Cohn Livingston and Lois Lowry and Milton Meltzer and Katherine Paterson and Marilyn Sachs and Mildred Pitts Walter and Nancy Willard and Jean Craighead GeorgeThe wisdom of peace and the absurdity of fighting are demonstrated in seventeen stories and poems by outstanding authors of today such as Jean Fritz, Milton Meltzer, and Nancy Willard.
Many Smokes, Many Moons
by Jamake HighwaterWith emphasis on the tribes in North America, this book uses the art and artifacts of various Indian cultures to illustrate events affecting their history from earliest times through 1973.
The Road to Agra
by Armiee SommerfeltThe Road to Agra is a children's novel, written by Aimée Sommerfelt and published in Norwegian in 1959 as Veien til Agra. It is her most famous work and has been translated into 17 other languages. It is a tender story of the love between thirteen-year-old Lalu and his younger sister, Maya, who is seven. Lalu protects his sister and takes care of her needs. His concern for Maya's failing eyesight, the result of a contagious disease called trachoma, prompts Lalu to take his sister on a perilous, three-hundred-mile journey on foot to seek medical help. Lalu's desire to better his situation in life and his unwavering commitment to his goal will inspire young readers.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner