THE MONKEY TRIAL: JOHN SCOPES AND THE BATTLE OVER TEACHING EVOLUTION by Anita Sanchez, Clarion, March 2023, 192p., ISBN: 978-0-35-845769-5

Richie’s Picks: SMALL PLACES CLOSE TO HOME: A CHILDREN’S DECLARATION OF RIGHTS by Deborah Hopkinson and Kate Gardiner, ill., HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray, October 2023, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-06-309258-7

“You've got to try a little kindness

Yes, show a little kindness

Just shine your light for everyone to see

And if you try a little kindness

Then you'll overlook the blindness

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets”

– Glen Campbell (1970)

SMALL PLACES CLOSE TO HOME by Deborah Hopkinson is rich in history and incredibly significant for today’s young readers:

“I am part of my family 

and the human family.

I was born free and equal, 

like each and every person 

in the world.

I deserve to live in freedom, 

in a just and peaceful place, 

and to be treated equally and fairly 

no matter what I look like, 

how I speak, dress, 

or wear my hair, 

who I love, 

or where I live. 

And it’s up to me to respect the rights 

of others to do the same.

I have the right to my own 

private thoughts. 

I am free to choose what I 

think and believe. 

And it’s up to me to listen 

and respect how others think 

and believe too”

This excellent piece of illustrated nonfiction is inspired by–and depicts the power and sanctity of–the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Back in 1948, in the aftermath of the Holocaust and WWII, this Declaration was a potent document. Its crafting and adoption by the General Assembly of the then-brand-new United Nations, was overseen by Eleanor Roosevelt. Ms. Roosevelt, the recently-widowed former First Lady, was one of America’s first delegates to the international body.

SMALL PLACES CLOSE TO HOME focuses visually on a young child of color from a mixed-race household. In illustrating the rights of the universal child, the book is organized into sections of “Me,” “My School and Community,” “My Country and World.”

“I have the right to peace,

in a world where all human beings,

as well as animals, birds,

insects, fish, plants,

and trees are treasured.

I have the right to live on Earth

and to work with others to 

restore and care for our planet

and its wondrous mountains,

wildlands, rivers, and seas.

I have the right to dream

of what I want to do in this world

to make life better for all living things.”

Kate Gardiner’s muted gouache and colored-pencil illustrations depict a broad diversity of people and critters on the planet.

Seventy-five years after its adoption, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remains far more an aspirational dream, rather than reality, for far too many of our fellow humans. Hopefully, teachers, librarians, and parents will share this book and point out how these rights can and should, indeed, begin at home, in the classroom, and in the community. Learning to express respect for and kindness toward the diverse people and creatures in our own spaces–as opposed to bullying, name-calling, and scorning differences–is great practice for growing up to empathize with those whose appearances, cultures, and beliefs are foreign to us.

This all makes SMALL PLACES CLOSE TO HOME an essential purchase and read.

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Picks  http://richiespicks.pbworks.com

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richiepartington@gmail.com