Children's+Literature

Title: Children of the Great Depression Author: Russell Freedman Grade Level: 4-8 Description: "This stirring photo-essay combines such unforgettable personal details with a clear historical overview of the period and black-and-white photos by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and many others. The use of primary sources is outstanding. The author’s prose is straightforward and easily comprehensible, making sense of even the complexities of the stock-market crash. Eight chapters cover the causes of the Great Depression, schooling, work life, migrant work, the lives of children who rode the rails, entertainment, and the economic resurgence of the early '40s."

Title: The Bread Winner Author: Arvella Whitmore Grade Level: 4-6 Description:"When both her parents are unable to find work and pay the bills during the Great Depression, resourceful Sarah Ann Puckett saves the family from the poorhouse by selling her prizewinning homemade bread."

Title: The Babe & I Author: David Adler Grade Level: 2-4 Description:"Set in the Bronx in 1932, this book gives us a young narrator who learns that his father is not going off to work each morning as he has pretended to do but instead is selling apples on the street. The boy then learns how to help out by selling newspapers near Yankee Stadium, yelling out the exploits of Babe Ruth in order to attract buyers. When the Babe himself buys a paper, our newspaper boy gets to watch a game."

Title: Nowhere to Call Home Author: Cynthia DeFelice Grade Level: 5-8 Description: "This realistic rags-to-riches (and back again) tale set in the time of Hoovervilles and bread lines follows a girl who takes up a hobos life. Sheltered, wealthy Frances Barrows world is thrown into chaos when her fathers factories go bankrupt and he kills himself during the Depression. When she hears a servants plan to become a hobo and ride the rails, 12-year-old Frances sees a way out of being sent from her home in Philadelphia to live with her stern aunt in Chicago. She gives the slip to the adults, cashes in her train ticket and disguises herself as a boy, leaping into a dark boxcar headed for Pittsburgh and freedom."

Title: Bud, Not Buddy Author: Christopher Paul Curtis Grade Level: 4-8 Description: "Bud holds all the remnants of his once loving home in a cardboard suitcase as he walks from Flint to Grand Rapids, Michigan in search of a man he believes to be his father. Many people lend a hand especially a labor union leader who finds Bud hiding at the side of the road. Bud's irrepressible good nature and innocence make him a breath of fresh air in the grim times of the Great Depression."

Title: Potato: A Tale From the Great Depression Author: Kate Lied Grade Level: 2-4 Description: During the "Great Depression," a family seeking work finds employment for two weeks digging potatoes in Idaho."