Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

by Kathleen Krull

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Local notes

921 CHA

Barcode

5478

Collection

Publication

HMH Books for Young Readers (2003), Edition: 1, 48 pages

Description

A biography of Cesar Chavez, from age ten when he and his family lived happily on their Arizona ranch, to age thirty-eight when he led a peaceful protest against California migrant workers' miserable working conditions.

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

48 p.; 11 inches

User reviews

LibraryThing member asousley
Harvesting Hope is about a Mexican family that loses it's farm and has to migrate to California to find work. After working in the fields for years under poor conditions and treatment Cesar Chavez sets out to fight for farm workers rights. Walking to Sacramento and gathering supporters as he goes,
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he finally got a contract for the National Farm Workers Association. Cesar Chavez died in 1993 and many times those that went to Sacramento were at his funeral.

Good story that shows that people need to stand up for what they believe in.

Teacher could use this to show that life doesn't always go the way we think it will. We can do our best to turn around our situation. If we are being oppressed we need to stand up for what we believe in.
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LibraryThing member jhill06
Genre: Biography
Critique: This is a good example of a biography because it is about Chavez's life and contains factual information about his contribution to the protest march for farmers. There are even notes that the author added about Chavez to help the reader learn even more.
LibraryThing member kyoder06
Genre: Biography
Age Appropriateness: primary, intermediate
Media: Acrylic

This is a great example of a biography because it tells the story of the life of Cesar Chavez. We get a chronological account that shows the growth of the young quiet boy into an outspoken powerful leader who demanded change.
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Cesar Chavez was a real person who played a role in civil rights right here in America. It provides complete facts and timelines for the reader.
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LibraryThing member rvangent
This is a good example of a biography because it gives an accurate account of Cesar Chavez's life. It is in chronological order starting with his prosperous life in Arizona when he was young, the drought that forced the move to the fields of California, the peaceful protest march he led through
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California, and then the signing of the first contract for farmworkers in American history. It truly is about a real person with great accomplishments.
Media: acrylics, handmade stamps, and computer-created cutouts
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LibraryThing member mpitcairn06
Summary: This biography tells the story of Chavez, from his time as a child on the family's ranch, to the life he lived as a migrant worker, to his triumphs in the National Farm Workers Association. The author's note at the end also includes more historical information.
Media: Acrylics, handmade
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stamps, and computer-created cutouts
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LibraryThing member amandacb
Krull does marvelous work with non-fiction, as this is yet another book by her that I recommend. The story of Cesar Chavez is told in clear language that would be easily understood by children of all ages. Cesar begins as a migrant worker who travels with his family to places in order to find field
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work. He begins to notice the disparities in the treatment of the workers. Then, he organizes protests and speeches, ultimately becoming the figurehead for Latino rights in the United States. Bright, relevant illustrations accompany the text. Kathleen Krull tells Chavez’s story with aplomb, leaving the reader to experience his emotions of defeat and then triumph.
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LibraryThing member EmilyWilhite
Review: This book is an excellent example of historical fiction because it includes actual events and people from history. The life of Cesar Chavez is told as a story so that the reader can understand and experience the events from his life.
Level: Intermediate, Middle School
LibraryThing member LyndsayE82
One book that I will add to my library. Someone that all cultures should know and respect.
LibraryThing member fvalle89
I loved the illustrations and the story. It's full of such emotion both in the drawings and the words the author uses. Cesar Chavez was an incredible man. It's great to do with a timeline, or an information map. Could be used as a book in biography lit circles. Students, especially Latin-american
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students or students whose parents work in agriculture could relate to this hopeful story.
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LibraryThing member mrcmyoung
An inspiring biography of Cesar Chavez, giving us another example of one person making a difference using nonviolent protest. The story of his 340 mile march from Delano to Sacramento, the longest protest march in U.S. history, started with 57 marchers and grew to ten thousand, resulting in a
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contract for farmworkers and a lasting movement. Morales' vibrant illustrations enhance the story.
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LibraryThing member Michelle_Bales
I had a happy childhood on my family farm. Then, when I was ten, there was a drought. My family lost our farm, and we were forced to become migrant farm workers. I experienced the suffering of these people. I wanted to help them. My mother taught me from a very young age the importance of
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non-violence. This is the story of how I helped to organize the migrant farm workers so that we could peacefully demand change for the better.
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LibraryThing member mleon2
This story is about the life of Cesar Chaves from when he was young to when he become know as today as a nonviolent civil right movement activist. It depict the times of stuggle that migrant worker went though and the fight that they made to make a change.
LibraryThing member kris0812
This biography of Cesar Chavez uses vivid paintings to create the many settings and build character development. The freedom and happiness of Cesar’s young life can be felt as he jumps through the air to swim with his brother. The terrified and sullen eyes pull the reader’s heartstrings as the
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family leaves their happy home. The physical pain and emotional pain that Cesar endures can be utterly imagined through his carefully crafted body language and facial expressions. This is a story of struggle and triumph that is truly felt through text and art. Teaching ideas include: human rights, history of migrant workers, current issues of immigration, nonviolent protesting versus violence, and motivation to fight for what you believe in.
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LibraryThing member jroy218
"Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez" is a biographical story of Cesar Chavez the hero of the migrant workers. This book chronicles Chavez's life beginning at the age of 10. At 10, his family had to move to California since there ranch in Arizona suffered a serious drought and they could no
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longer pay the bills. Chavez went to school until 8th grade. He was made fun of when he spoke Spanish in the school. His mother taught him not to respond with violence, but to use your words. He remembered this when he decided he needed to fight for the migrant workers rights. He created the National Farm Workers Association and helped farm workers to strike. He was the first to sign a contract with one of the largest grape producers in California. He continued working for migrant workers' rights all of his life.

This would be a great book to use with upper-elementary, middle, and high school students when teaching about the migrant workers and introducing the concept of unions and why they are necessary. The story is kept light, but there is an author's note at the end that discusses his hunger strikes, and how that eventually led to his death.

This story makes me want to investigate migrant workers and Cesar Chavez further, and I am sure this would be the case with the students. The pictures are vibrant and interesting to look at. Great book!
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LibraryThing member KennaEmerson
Harvesting Hope is a great account of Cesar Chavez's life. Without diving into the deeper politics of it, readers are able to grasp the reason for him leading the famous grape march. The story does well in emphasizing his peaceful tactics while protesting. It would be an even more powerful story in
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my opinion if Krull had discussed reasons for why some people still argue about Chavez's goals. This book would be a great way to start a discussion on the controversies behind famous heroes like MLK, Malcolm X, Ghandi, etc.
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LibraryThing member McEvilla
Cesar Chavez and his family use to live in Arizona and the 'good life' until a drought came and ruined everything leaving no work and no money. Their family had to move to California and he had to work hard labor and little pay. He and others would work so hard slaving a farm hurting their backs
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and hands at the grapevine. When he was in his twenties he organized a big group of people and had a strike. Cesar Chavez signed the first contract for far workers in American history.
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LibraryThing member sharmon05
This book outlines the major events and accomplishments in Cesar Chavez's life. This makes it so this book is a good example of a biography. The setting in this book is clearly described to the reader. Without this clear description this book would not flow well. The setting helps the reader
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understand the conditions these people were working in.
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LibraryThing member tonyalwickware
Summary: Harvesting Hope is a book about a family that loses their ranch and has to become a family of migrant workers. The family loses their ranch in Arizona headed to California to become migrant workers in hopes of earning enough money to buy their ranch back. The family endures many hardships
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along the way and young Cesar Chavez at an early age decides that he is going to stand up for the rights of his family and all migrant workers. He begins a movement in his early twenties to peacefully fight for the rights of the migrant workers which eventually leads to the formation of the National Farm Workers Association

Personal Reaction: My personal reaction to this book was one of amazement, triumph, and pride. I was amazed at the struggles the migrant workers had to endure, but was proud to see a young man stand up with pride, and become triumphant in his beliefs and convictions.

Teaching Extensions:
1) Harvesting Hope is a book that demonstrates the importance of reforms to ensure better, safer, and adiquate facilities for workers.
2) Harvesting Hope could be used as a History lesson because ittells the story of the first successful agricultural strike in U.S. history.
3) Harvesting Hope could also be used as a Social Studies lesson by teaching students about a culture and their struggles.
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LibraryThing member amandawaltz
The biography of Cesar Chavez is inspirational and well-written. The descriptions of the conditions people worked in was vivid and makes an impact on the reader. I think this book would be a good addition to a unit on social justice, particularly in relation to migrant workers and their families.
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Reading level: Grade 4.8
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LibraryThing member HannahRevard
This is the story of Cesar Chavez's life, told for children. The illustrations are bright and vivid. I would use this book for older students to teach about civil rights, human rights, workers' rights, etc.
LibraryThing member Jmoreeda
This book was given to me to compliment a unit on Dr. King's civil rights work. I was ashamed that I had no knowledge of Chavez until I had read this book. After further research, I did add this text to the civil rights unit along with information on Gandhi.

The illustrations in this book are deep
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and rich with information that the text alone can not describe. Throughout the book, the author describes Chavez's march to Sacramento while the grapes rotted. The illustrations show a cluster of grapes in various stages of decay as the story progresses. Seemingly small additions such as this add to the completeness on the text in an extraordinary way.
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LibraryThing member nhassa3
This historical non-fiction picture book was about the protests and march led by Cesar Chavez. This book was inspirational to all students, not just Hispanic-Americans. The story had a theme about non-violence, standing up for what is right, and equality. The workers in the field were not getting
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treated fairly and choose to peacefully protest. This would be best for 2nd graders because of the length of the book and the topic. This shows the tough times he had likeOnce, after Cesar broke the rule about speaking English at all times, a teacher hung a sign on him that read, I AM A CLOWN. I SPEAK SPANISH. He came to hate school because of the conflicts, though he liked to learn.". It also showed good lessons like his mother teaching the kids to be "against fighting, urging them to use their minds and mouths to work out conflicts."
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LibraryThing member StephanieGrim
I enjoyed reading Harvesting Hope by Kathleen Krull for two reasons. I enjoyed the author's descriptive language throughout the story and the way the plot continued to build, both with a lot of conflict and strong resolution. The authors description of the events and settings in the story, along
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with the accompanying illustrations, created a clear, detailed account of what life was like for Cesar Chaves at different points in his life. A good example of this is shown when the author is describes concrete details about things in Chaves life such as the "spacious adobe house built to last forever" he grew up in or when he talk about the "thirty-five schools" he attended from moving around. The plot of the story unfolded well, in my opinion, at a proper pace that kept the reader interested with all of its different aspects and tension. I valued this especially during the story at the part about Chavez working as a farmer trying to find supporters of his idea of equal rights for workers, and then describing how it grew into a major movement with hardships and triumphs. Through this story, the message of how perseverance can can lead to achieving greatness and how one person can make such a difference in the lives of others.
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LibraryThing member memaldonado
Cesar was from Arizona, and he was forced to move to California because the trees started to die and the land was not able to produce anything. In California his family did not earn enough money and they lost hope to own their own farm. Cesar was very sad about his family situation, and he did not
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enjoy school. He dropped out of school when he was in eighth grade and worked. Cesar witnessed the unjust society that farmers went through, so he organized a union to help fight their employers. Cesar was able to get fair wages for his people, and improve their working environment. The book shows how a person who belongs to a minority group defies the regulations of a powerful fruit company. The book also reflects equality for all workers.
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LibraryThing member Ekelle8
This book is a true story about a man named Cesar Chavez who lived in Arizona on a ranch with his family. His family slaved away working, but barely making enough money to survive. As a young boy, Cesar was shy and was teased in school, but when he grew tired of seeing his family struggling to make
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enough money to survive, he knew he needed to speak up and make a change. At that moment, Cesar became a leader and led a 340-mile, nonviolent protest march through California. This protest worked to improve the lives of thousands of migrant farmworkers and recognized Cesar Chavez as one of America's greatest civil rights leaders.
I loved this book because of the multicultural message and how this message can be understood by a lot of different cultures. I think this book is a picture book that can also be used to introduce topics like the civil rights movement in social studies class. This book would be a perfect engagement to start a unit of different cultural issues and I honestly think it is a must have in any elementary classroom. I also liked the way the pictures went along with the story very well. That is what I liked about the story Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez.
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Lexile

L

Pages

48

Rating

(112 ratings; 4.2)
Page: 0.8673 seconds