Book Review: Kids Who Are Changing the World

We bought copies of this book for teacher-participants in a spring professional development that connected history (Shays Rebellion, which took place as a resistance here in our area and led to the Constitutional Congress) to modern civic engagement projects with students. Kids Who Are Changing the World is a beautifully done book, with impactful stories of what the title says — young people who saw a problem and then worked to address it.

Inside, you can find dozens of examples of activism on issues of the environment, health, politics and more, with kid-friendly language and stories and images. There’s also plenty of advice for young readers on how to proceed with their own ideas for change in the world.

I enjoyed this book so much that I ordered a class set for my classroom, and intend to use it as a launching pad for some local civic engagement projects with my sixth graders later this year. I’m hoping they will be inspired by the many stories — many of which focus on neighborhoods and local communities.

I appreciated the many links to online resources, some of which are sites set up by the kids in the book and others, related documents and information that might help inform my students on a wide variety of issues.

Peace (changing the world),
Kevin

2 Comments
  1. Kevin, this is timely! I’m teaching Civics at both middle and high school levels this year, and want to connect early US history to current events. I started looking into protests and riots, and it was like “Holy Smokes!” Shay’s Rebellion is one of the better known, but there were certainly many others. I find much of the current rhetoric suggests the protests and riots going on are an anomaly, but it is clear it is part of our overall legacy.

    Would this book be appropriate for high school students, or too “simple?”

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