Status
Coming Soon
Call number
Collection
Genres
Publication
San Francisco, California : Chronicle Books LLC, [2018]
Description
Rhyming text explores citizenship, showing readers how seemingly unrelated actions, such as planting a tree or joining a cause can create a community.
User reviews
LibraryThing member JaxlynLeigh
Great book to introduce citizenship! This book presents many different, achievable ways that kids can understand. Can't wait to use to introduce citizenship!
LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Author Dave Eggers and illustrator Shawn Harris, who collaborated previously on Her Right Foot, a picture-book devoted to the story of the Statue of Liberty, join forces again in this look at the role of the citizen. The sing-song narrative sets out the many ways a citizen can get involved, from
I found Eggers and Harris' Her Right Foot a surprisingly good book, when I read it some time ago. Although I often find that authors famous in fields other than children's literature - Eggers is a celebrated name in the world of adult American letters - erroneously assume that this means they will have the skill to write for children, in the case of that other book, I thought it was a well-told tale, one that would be engaging for young readers. Given that this was so, and that I also enjoyed Harris' artwork, I went into What Can a Citizen Do? with every expectation of enjoyment. Unfortunately, although I found the visuals here quite appealing, with collage artwork that is energetic and expressive, I found the text somewhat muddled. Its heart is in the right place, and the message I think that Eggers is trying to get across - that citizens need to be informed, engaged and active - is a good one. That said, there simply isn't enough here - no explanation of what a citizen is, for instance - to ground the sing-songy list of things a citizen can do. There isn't enough information to be educational, nor enough story to be emotionally resonant.
I wish this one had been stronger, and that I could recommend it as a book to introduce children to the idea of citizenship - what it means, and what it entails, in terms of responsibilities and rights - but it isn't, and I can't. This one is nice enough, as a kind of general "get involved" book, but that's about as far as it goes.
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writing letters to changing laws, while the collage-style artwork depicts a diverse range of children in action...I found Eggers and Harris' Her Right Foot a surprisingly good book, when I read it some time ago. Although I often find that authors famous in fields other than children's literature - Eggers is a celebrated name in the world of adult American letters - erroneously assume that this means they will have the skill to write for children, in the case of that other book, I thought it was a well-told tale, one that would be engaging for young readers. Given that this was so, and that I also enjoyed Harris' artwork, I went into What Can a Citizen Do? with every expectation of enjoyment. Unfortunately, although I found the visuals here quite appealing, with collage artwork that is energetic and expressive, I found the text somewhat muddled. Its heart is in the right place, and the message I think that Eggers is trying to get across - that citizens need to be informed, engaged and active - is a good one. That said, there simply isn't enough here - no explanation of what a citizen is, for instance - to ground the sing-songy list of things a citizen can do. There isn't enough information to be educational, nor enough story to be emotionally resonant.
I wish this one had been stronger, and that I could recommend it as a book to introduce children to the idea of citizenship - what it means, and what it entails, in terms of responsibilities and rights - but it isn't, and I can't. This one is nice enough, as a kind of general "get involved" book, but that's about as far as it goes.
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LibraryThing member MarlenePreciado
This is a great book to teach children about what it means to be a citizen. It allows children to see that anyone can be a citizen and while being a citizen one can advocate for change.
Subjects
Awards
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Children's Books — 2018)
Illinois Reads (K-2 — 2019)
Picture This Recommendation List (Fiction — 2019)
Language
ISBN
9781452173139