Children of the dust days

Gr. 3^-6. With spare text and photos on every page, Coombs brings the dust and drought of the 1930s to life for middle readers in this entry in the Picture the American Past series. Simple, straightforward paragraphs describe the "black blizzards," the economic toll, and the journey to find a better life in California. Occasional quotations from children's recollections of the period make the text more immediate, and sepia photos capture details that will help children understand how the dust and drought impacted every aspect of life--from corn decimated by grasshoppers and jalopies piled high with household goods to a family dressed in feed sacks and rags. Directions for making a burlap shirt are included, as are notes to teachers and adults. An exceptional introduction to this era in North American history. Resources and a brief glossary are appended. --Karen Hutt

Gr 3-6-A concise and informative overview. An introductory map shows where the dust fell-from Texas to Alberta, Canada. A period photograph on every page captures the feelings of misery and despair. One picture shows a huge wall of dark dust approaching a town in Alberta like a gigantic tidal wave. Throughout the book, children and their parents are shown coping with the problems of dust, grasshoppers, crop failure, drought, starving farm animals, rationed water, and, finally, abandoning their homes for better prospects in other places. Lyrics by Woody Guthrie, spokespoet for the period, open several chapters. In an afterword, students are reassured that, due to improved farming techniques, it is unlikely that the "sad times of the dust days" will happen again. Several activities are appended. Milton Meltzer's excellent Driven from the Land (Benchmark, 1999) is for a slightly older audience.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Short, factual texts and archival duotone photos highlight four groups of children: freed slaves after the Civil War, immigrants at the turn of the century, Dust Bowl victims in the 1930s, and Japanese Americans during World War II. Readers will need additional background knowledge to understand the significance of the historic periods, but these are adequate introductions. Notes to teachers and parents are appended. Bib., glos., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.