The Learn and Do Reading Guide is intended to help teachers, librarians, and family members facilitate important, genuine reflection, dialogue, and inspiration for action among young people as they read this commended title together or on their own.
If the adult is reading aloud, the commentary can be shared and the questions posed as seems fit in the process. If young people are reading independently, Building Background and Reflection can be discussed with an adult before and after reading. Dialogue Questions could be assigned for written consideration while reading, with discussion afterward. All or just a few prompts and questions can be utilized. In all cases, conversation about the book is key.
Land of the Cranes
2021 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Title
From prolific author, Aida Salazar, comes the heart-wrenchingly beautiful story in verse of a young Latinx girl who learns to hold on to hope and love even in the darkest of places: a family detention center for migrants and refugees.
From prolific author, Aida Salazar, comes the heart-wrenchingly beautiful story in verse of a young Latinx girl who learns to hold on to hope and love even in the darkest of places: a family detention center for migrants and refugees.
Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth
2023 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Title
Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth is an inspiring picture book biography of the groundbreaking journalist and civil rights activist as told by her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster.
Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth is an inspiring picture book biography of the groundbreaking journalist and civil rights activist as told by her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster.
Midnight Without A Moon
2018 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Title
Rose Lee Carter dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955. Her world is rocked when a 14-year-old African-American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Rose Lee Carter dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955. Her world is rocked when a 14-year-old African-American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Black is a Rainbow Color
2021 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor Title
Black Is a Rainbow Color is a powerful anthem that celebrates all things Black, the colorful and the cultural. The story takes us on a journey with a young girl who reflects on the meaning of being Black, which leads her to question, absorb, and share information about her culture.
Black Is a Rainbow Color is a powerful anthem that celebrates all things Black, the colorful and the cultural. The story takes us on a journey with a young girl who reflects on the meaning of being Black, which leads her to question, absorb, and share information about her culture.
Choosing Brave
2023 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Choosing Brave is a biography of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son’s death into a call to action for the civil rights movement.
Choosing Brave is a biography of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son’s death into a call to action for the civil rights movement.
Jane Addams Children’s Learn & Do Curriculum Guidelines
Discussion Guide
The Learn and Do Curriculum invites children to engage in dialogue, to passionately respond, reflect, and question ideas. This guide goes through aspects of identity, skills, intellect, criticality/action, diversity, and justice to help educators choose learning tools that will foster socially-conscious learners.