The International Day of the Girl: Celebrating Girls Around the World (CitizenKid)

by Jessica Dee Humphreys (Author) Simone Shin (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
Series: CitizenKid

This introduction to the International Day of the Girl and its worldwide significance encourages children to recognize their own potential to make change, providing both a perfect lesson in social justice and a celebration of girl power.

The United Nations designated October 11th as the International Day of the Girl, a day to increase awareness of problems that affect girls --- and only girls --- around the world and to encourage progress toward gender equality. Nine stories inspired by the real-life experiences of girls from all over the globe bring to light the importance of this day. Each story is set in a different country and sensitively describes an inequity faced by a character and how she addressed it. The challenges include gender-based violence, illiteracy, lack of access to technology, sanitation, nutritional disparity and child marriage. Each story features a positive description of the main character --- strong, smart, creative, inventive, brave, talented, caring, funny, ambitious --- and each concludes with a realistic yet hopeful outcome, presenting the girls as more than victims of their circumstances. Their powerful, and empowering, experiences will stir the activist in every child.

Jessica Dee Humphreys's well-researched and illuminating stories are both readable and age appropriate. Award-winning Simone Shin's simple, warm illustrations bring the characters and their circumstances to life. Sidebars expand on the issues covered in each story. This book is a perfect choice for social justice discussions, as well as for social studies lessons on global communities, and for character education conversations on citizenship. It includes a foreword by the Honorable Rona Ambrose, who led Canada's call for the day to be formally adopted by the United Nations. Also included are an annotated time line of the day's creation and additional statistical information. A portion of the proceeds will go to Plan International Canada.

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$18.99

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School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--International Day of the Girl, which spotlights issues faced by girls around the world, was established in October 2012 by the United Nations. This picture book introduces readers to this observance day and shares nine stories inspired by young visionaries. Though the challenges confronting girls can be incredibly grim, these stories are filled with hope. The text highlights issues such as lack of proper nutrition, child marriage, education opportunity inequalities, gender-based violence, and lack of access to technology. Each story focuses on one girl who was able to overcome obstacles and find solutions to help improve not only her own situation but the conditions of the girls in her community. Shin's emotive illustrations provide a colorful, galvanizing backdrop for the empowering stories. The individual stories are engaging, but the writing may be too complex for younger readers to process. These stories could be shared as part of a lesson or program rather than as a complete read-aloud or individual reading experience. The book could be a starting point for classroom discussions around gender equality and the struggle of girls around the world. The balance of text to illustration doesn't necessarily work as a picture book; the result is more like an informational text. VERDICT Despite some shortcomings, this is a solid addition to the upper elementary nonfiction shelves or separate collections highlighting women's studies or gender equality.--Elaine Baran Black, Georgia P.L. Svc., Atlanta

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

... a solid addition to ... collections highlighting women's studies or gender equality.—School Library Journal
Jessica Dee Humphreys
Jessica Dee Humphreys has worked with several girls' rights organizations, including Save the Children and the United Nations Development Fund for Women. She is the co-author of a number of bestselling books, including Roméo Dallaire's Waiting for First Light and They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children. Jessica is also the co-author of the award-winning CitizenKid graphic novel Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War, with Michel Chikwanine.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781525300585
Lexile Measure
1030
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Kids Can Press
Publication date
September 01, 2020
Series
CitizenKid
BISAC categories
JNF023000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Girls & Women
JNF053160 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Topics | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JNF026000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Holidays & Celebrations | General
Library of Congress categories
Social conditions
Girls
Women's rights
Political activity
Children's rights

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