Children's Literature during the Great Depression

It remains always a challenge to teach history,specifically in elementary and middle school.Young people often face problems in studying history mostly american history due to their youthness.One really useful technique to help students understand very important events in history is to have students read historical fiction. Even though the book is fiction, the actual events are not fiction. For instance, if a teacher is trying to help her students understand the horrors of the Great Depression, she can have her students read interesting children's literature-Great Depression.

There are several really good historical fiction books about the Great Depression. A book that is an excellent vehicle to teach the depression to middle school students is Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse. The dust mentioned in the title, of course, is the Oklahoma dust bowl which was one of the worst natural disasters the United States has ever had. The book centers on Billie Jo a fourteen year old girl. The book is written in the style of a journal which makes the book seem very real and personal. The book vividly describes the horrors of the dust bowl. The constant dust storms bury everything in their path. The dust storms last for years and years. Her story is very bleak; her mother dies in a horrible accident and her father is dying of skin cancer. Although the book is often bleak and depression, Billie Jo endures her tragedies but still has hope in her heart. This book will certainly help young adult readers understand just how devastating the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl really was.

Another truly wonderful book about the Great Depression is Borrowed Children by George Ella Lyon. This book set during the worst of the depression. This coming of age story centers around a 12 year old girl named Amanda. Her mother is very ill and Amanda has to take of her mother and the house where poverty is a way of life. Told in the first person, Borrowed Children is always true to its tale of love and family. Even though the story is set during a very bleak period in American history, the book is often funny and delightfully true to life.

A very different take on the Great Depression is Ivy Larkin by Mary Stolz. This book is perfect for students in grades five through seven. Ivy's mother wants the best for her daughter finds a way to get Ivy a scholarship to a prestigious Manhattan school. Her brother and sister also attend. Ivy does not acclimate herself into the school. Because she is a scholarship student, she feels like an outcast and spends most of her time in the library where she feels safe. Fourteen year old Ivy tries to cope with her feelings of hopelessness at the elegant Manhattan school while at the same time worrying about her father who has lost his job because of the depression.

Another book that fully explains aspects of the Great Depression is Nowhere to Call Home by Cynthia Defelice. The story is set when Hoovervilles and breadlines were omnipresent because poverty was rampant. Frances Barrows has grown up in relative luxury until her father loses his factories and becomes bankrupt. Because her father cannot live with his losses, he commits suicide and leaves her to the care of a distant aunt. When Frances overhears some of he former servants talking about riding the rails, she decides to pose as a boy and ride the rails too. Frances become Frankie Blue and sees the horrible poverty of the Great Depression first hand.

The extreme poverty of the depression is so important that it almost becomes a central character. Frances or Frankie Blue finally realize that the poverty all around her is simply too difficult for a young girl to survive so she finally decides to leave the rails and live with her aunt. When children read this book, they are left with a lasting impression of just howbad the Great Depression really was.

Reading historical fiction is a perfect way to help young students understand important periods of American History. Certainly children's literature-Great Depression is a perfect way to teach this very important part of history.

Technorati Tags: Childrens Literature, Children's Literature during the Great Depression, Childrens Literature Great Depression

• Childrens Literature
• Academic Values Of Childrens Literature
• Childrens Literature And Diversity
• Childrens Literature And Movies
• Childrens Literature Conferences
• Childrens Literature Degree
• Childrens Literature Great Depression
• Childrens Literature Lesson Plans
• Childrens Literature North America
• Choosing Childrens Literature
• Genre In Childrens Literature
• Illustrations From Childrens Literature
• Illustrations From Classic Childrens Literature
• Institute Of Classic Childrens Literature
• Integrating Childrens Literature With Science
• Super Heroes In Childrens Literature
• Very Little Childrens Literature Written About
• What Is Childrens Literature
• What Is Good Childrens Literature
• Writing Childrens Literature




• Social Bookmark This
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• Resources
• Privacy Policy
• Sitemap