Customer Reviews

This Child, Every Child: A Book about the World’s Children (CitizenKid)

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I was unaware of the "UN Convention on the Rights of the Child" until I saw David Smith's latest book This Child, Every Child. This book is not only an intriguing read for children and adults, but is also a great introduction to the UN document. It has cover endorsements from UNICEF and from the Canadian NGO, Onexone. David Smith puts a face on specific situations in a way that will help both children and adults understand the heart breaking problems of many children in the world, and also some solutions.

Smith has chosen twelve of the Articles of the UN Convention and has developed wonderful verbal pictures of the situations of typical children in places like Yemen, India, Mali and Iran. For example, he writes of a nine year old boy in Guatemala who works in a fireworks factory, one of the estimated 18 million children under age 14 who work in Latin American. He also contrasts these with the descriptions of children in the developed world such as England, the US, and Australia. Along the way he enriches the text with up-to-date statistics, such as the number of homeless children in the world (100 million!) and the extent that children are part of rebel armies (about 300,000).

Shelagh Armstrong's illustrations are powerful. The depiction of the boy-soldier on page 29 is breathtaking, but every page is illustrated to appeal to young and old alike. I can imagine my reading this to a 4th grade nephew while he looks at the pictures, although it certainly is readable by upper elementary school children.

The last section on "Learning More" will be of practical interest to parents and teachers, allowing them to continue to help the children in their lives understand the world. Like Smith's earlier books (If the World Were a Village and If America Were a Village), this latest work is both educational and inspirational. As a lifelong teacher and school administrator, I hope every school library, classroom, and even every home will have a copy.

My only suggestion for future editions: a world map, perhaps on the inside covers with the various mentioned countries labeled, would be a great addition. I'm quite sure that many readers will not know where Yemen is located, much less Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, I recommend having a globe nearby.

Like David Smith's other books, I'm quite sure that this will be reprinted in many languages and will become a classic.

David J. Smith is a former geography teacher whose materials I used when I was teaching; they were always imaginative and accurate. This is his third book and my young grandchildren have enjoyed them all. "If The World Were a Village" and "If America Were a Village" presented vivid and often surprising statistical snapshots of the world and the United States. "This Child, Every Child" describes the varied lives of children around the world and doesn't flinch at showing the disparities.

The book is based on the "United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child" but Smith has done a great job turning official terminology into a book of stories that are interesting and certainly eye-opening. My grandchildren loved it! From the opening illustration of children holding hands around the world to the final pages of projects suitable for young people, complete with websites and print sources, they were fascinated. It's a wonderful book for families to read together and to discuss.

Smith believes that children need to know that change is possible, and that even they have a power to create positive changes in the world. This unusual and interesting book is a great place for them to start.

This was a book I had read about and was interested in learning more about world children. In America, we do not always see what travelers of the world see.

Another success for David Smith! What a thoroughly, thought-provoking look at the world's children and their cultures. The clear presentation makes it easy for kids to step outside their own zip codes and get well-researched and gorgeously illustrated information on what other children deal with in life. This is a perfect follow up to his "If the World Were a Village" and "If America Were a Village". I recommend this book for all ages. I'm in the retirement years and my children are in their 30's and we've all learned from these books. We use them as gifts time and time again. I can't wait to get the latest offering "This Child, Every Child" on my friend's shelves!

As a parent of a child in a middle (to upper) class area of the United States, an incredibly wealthy country by any standard, I feel some responsibility to raise my kids' awareness about children who don't have such an easy life.

Unfortunately, some recent items in the news have shown children in distress -- either in war-torn countries or areas like Haiti and Japan devastated by natural disasters. We don't always want to talk to our children about these issues, but sometimes we have to.

In This Child, Every Child: A Book about the World's Children, a Citizen Kid book published by Kids Can Press, the tone is very informative -- not written in a sensational alarmist way, instead just painting a clear picture (sometimes sad) of what different aspects of children's lives look like in many different areas including

* School (and literacy rates)
* Homes
* Family
* Health
* Work
* Play
* War (okay, maybe that part was a bit sad and hopeless for me to read

This oversized 9 x 12 book has a large beautiful painted illustration on about half of the two-page spread. The other page has fairly dense text (but in a font that is just right for young readers) describing the topic. At the bottom of the page the article from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that pertains to that topic is highlighted in a box, written in child friendly language.

For example, in the section on work the article reads

"You have the right to protection from work that harms you, and is bad for your health and education. If you work, you have the right to be safe and paid fairly (Article 32)."

I'm not exactly sure who the target for this book is -- definitely an older child, and perhaps one interested in world cultures or human rights. However, it has a valuable message to share.

What's more, 50% of all the North American sales profits will be donated to OneXOne, an organization committed to supporting, preserving and improving the lives of children in Canada, the United States, and around the world. The donation is being used to deliver books to children in Haiti.

A sobering yet hopeful look at the circumstances of children around the world. This book is an excellent resource for classrooms and homeschools. You will find topics listed in the back of the book to launch discussions that will really carry home the reality of living conditions many children have to accept. The rights children have, as set forth by the United Nations, are listed in conjunction with stories of children around the world. I can't think of a better and more insightful way to involve children in their own story and give them a voice they can develop over their lifetime to help other children. - Biblio Reads Children's Book Review