Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor [Paperback]

Russell Freedman (Author), Lewis Hine (Photographer)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Photobiography of early twentieth-century photographer and schoolteacher Lewis Hine, using his own work as illustrations. Hines's photographs of children at work were so devastating that they convinced the American people that Congress must pass child labor laws.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hine photographed underprivileged child laborers from 1908-1918; their depleted faces look out from almost every page. "Freedman does an outstanding job of integrating historical photographs with meticulously researched and highly readable prose," said PW in a starred review. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up-Using the photographer's work throughout, Freedman provides a documentary account of child labor in America during the early 1900s and the role Lewis Hine played in the crusade against it. He offers a look at the man behind the camera, his involvement with the National Child Labor Committee, and the dangers he faced trying to document unjust labor conditions. Solemn-faced children, some as young as three years old, are shown tending looms in cotton mills or coated with coal dust in the arresting photos that accompany the explanations of the economics and industries of the time. Both Freedman's words and quotes from Hine add impact to the photos, explaining to contemporary children the risky or fatiguing tasks depicted. Details such as Hine's way of determining children's height by measuring them against his own coat buttons add further depth and a personal touch to the already eloquent statements made by his thoughtfully composed black-and-white portraits. Also included are some of the photographer's other projects throughout his career. Readers will not only come to appreciate the impact of his groundbreaking work, but will also learn how one man dedicated and developed his skill and talents to bring about social reform.
Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library, WI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (March 23, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395797268
• ISBN-13: 978-0395797266
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 9.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Science > Sociology
  • #10 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Reference & Nonfiction > Politics & Government
  • #11 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Reference & Nonfiction > Business & Money

More About the Author

Russell Freedman received the Newbery Medal for LINCOLN: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY. He is also the recipient of three Newbery Honors, a National Humanities Medal, the Sibert Medal, the Orbis Pictus Award, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and was selected to give the 2006 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture. Mr. Freedman lives in New York City and travels widely to research his books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The meaning of tough, March 3, 2002

By 

Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor (Paperback)

...

This book weaves Hine's story together with his photographs of kids working in Maine's sardine canneries, Texas cotton fields, New York laundries, Tennessee and Georgia cotton mills and in textile mills all over the U.S. south. He took some of the most haunting photos of dark tunnels and grimy breaker rooms in Pennsylvania coalmines. He went inside glass factories, to farms, and onto city streets at 1 a.m. to photograph children distributing newspapers and 1 p.m. to watch them shining boots.

...

If your kids occasionally gripe that they have it tough, get them this book and show them what the word means. Alyssa A. Lappen

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an powerful book full of visual and written imagery, November 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor (Paperback)

Children and adults are both intrigued by this wonderful photo documentation of the history of immigrant children working in the United States. Lewis Hine's pictures tell the story and Russell Freedman's words add a greater depth to this sometimes sad yet beautiful celebration of children at work during the early 20th century.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convincing and exciting yet sad and true, October 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor (Paperback)

"Kids At Work" is a great book to tell and show the children of today how hard it was back then. Lewis Hine takes most of the credit. Thanks to his great photos The Declaration Of Dependence was passed. It stated that kids would be dependent and should live a normal kids life. Which concisted of going to school, being able to play freely with other kids ect.. We the children of today thank Lewis Hine for giving us a free life. I also give Ressell Freedman credit for following Mr. Hine and writing this spectacular and amizing book. As far as I am concerned Hine and Freedman greatest authors of all time!!