Subjects:  1. Migrant agricultural laborers   2. Atlantic States   3. History   4. Sociology   5. Social Science   6. Minority Studies - Ethnic American   7. Labor & Industrial Relations - General   8. Labor   9. Business & Economics   

Subjects:  1. Alien labor, African   2. Italy   3. Veneto   4. Alien labor, Asian   5. Immigrants   6. Politics - Current Events   7. Political Science   8. Labor & Industrial Relations - General   

Subjects:  1. Alien labor   2. Government policy   3. Japan   4. Emigration and immigration law   5. Migrant Workers   6. Sociology   7. Political Science   8. Labor & Industrial Relations - General   9. Asia - Japan   

Customer Reviews (2)

Well-researched and Original
The floating population in China is a relatively new phenomenon, and this book contributes much to the literature, which has previously been most accessible in academic journals. The only thing holding me back from giving it 5 stars is its publication date...one year before the census in China. Updated statistics would be much appreciated, and are now available to Chinese scholars.

Thought-provoking
Dorothy Solinger's book is more than just an intelligent and well researched document about peasant migration in China today - she also offers a sympathetic and personal angle to the subject through accounts of her many personal interviews with the migrants themselves, as well as excerpts from primary sources. A thoroughly challenging read that is a must for anyone interested in the relationship between China's floating population, the state and society. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Rural-urban migration   2. China   3. Urban poor   4. Citizenship   5. Peasantry   6. Sociology   7. Social Science   8. Sociology - Social Theory   9. Development - Economic Development   10. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism   11. Political Science   

Subjects:  1. African American women   2. California   3. San Francisco Bay Area   4. Social conditions   5. African Americans   6. History - General History   7. Social Science   8. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor   9. United States - State & Local - General   

Subjects:  1. Migrant agricultural laborers   2. California   3. History   4. 20th century   5. Social conditions   6. Sociology   7. Social Science   8. Minority Studies - General   9. Human Geography   10. United States - State & Local - General   11. Labor   12. Business & Economics   

Customer Reviews (5)

Fairly accurate portrayal of life in the fields
I read this book as part of an assignment. It is a Caldecott Honor Book and I am very familiar with picking cotton. I was born the daughter of a cotton share-cropper, so my earliest memories are some of the very same things that appear in this book.

Cotton picking by hand is hard. It is backbreaking, and the days are hot and long. However, I had a few concerns about this book. It is written in the local dialect and speech patterns of the Black child who is telling the story. It was rather difficult to read but easy to understand what she meant. Since this is a child's book, I am not certain that every child would understand the language system that is portrayed. A teacher needs to be completely aware and ready to explain the dialect.

Also, even though the child describes a typical day of cotton picking, hard, hot, long,and lonely for socialization, I do wish the fact had been brought out that other ethnicities picked cotton as well as Blacks. It is hard work no matter who picks the cotton.

The illustrations were done nicely and the family structure was portrayed as intact. However, it reminded me all too well of the long, hot days my family spent in the cotton fields.

A very good politically 'incorrect' book.
Some books that I read do not catch my eye right away, but this one caught my eye for a couple of reasons. For one, this book reminded me of the stories that my grandmother used to tell me about when she would be in the fields picking cotton. Two, this book does not make picking cotton sound like a bad thing at all. When my grandmother would tell me stories about being in the cotton fields, the stories would never sound bad, or harsh. Her stories made me want to pick up this book and read it. This book is about a little girl named Shelan who goes to the fields every morning to go pick cotton with her family. Her family consists of her father, mother, her two older sisters, and her baby sister Leanne, who her mother has to carry while she picks cotton. The story is told through Shelan's eyes, from the time that they get on the bus at dawn, to the time they leave the fields at sunset. The illustrations were as vivid as the little girl telling the story. The pictures were hazy, just like a very hot day, where there are no trees. I thought that was very symbolic. I liked this book a lot, for different reasons. But I do have one or two concerns about this book. For one, the book may not be suitable to teach to just "any" child. I think that a children's book is supposed to move at a comfortable pace. Not make the child think too hard, but just enough to spark some creative ideas. Every child is not going to be able to relate to this book, like others would. To make it plain, I do not think that a Black child would have as much trouble understanding this book, as opposed to children of other ethnicities. I (a Black male) understood the dialect in this book very well and I enjoyed reading the "broken language" because that was what I was used to as a child. I did not think twice about the dialect until I had to analyze it. After I read the whole thing, I wondered if children of other backgrounds would be able to understand this book. The author was not trying to think "politically correct," but rather, correct in the eyes of the little girl. Shelan doesn't know any better than to talk the way that she does. Just like any little child does not recognize their "grammatical speaking errors." I think that whoever is going to read this book to a class of little children should be conscious of what children they are reading it to. The makeup of the class who receives this book is very important. Just like Nappy Hair, this book is very real as far as language and vivid images are concerned. This book is very good nevertheless, and hearing a great storyteller tell this story would be a treat to the senses.

Working Cotton
The Caldecott Medal book that I chose to read for this assignment was called Working Cotton. It is about an African American family's daily work picking cotton from the fields. Williams incorporates a good deal of African American culture into the story. Her familiarity with the dialect allows for the story to be portrayed in a very realistic way. The story is written in the third person as a young girl details her and her family's daily routine of getting up at dawn and riding a bus to the cotton fields where she, her brothers, and her father picked cotton. All the while, the mother sat along side of the field and tended to their new infant child. What makes this book unique is that it is written in a dialect that is very much expected from a less educated population. Williams uses this dialect effectively to bring the story to life. Miriam Youngerman's 1994 article in Children's Literature Association Quarterly Touches on the importance of dialect in children's books. "The dialect is a large part of the storytelling. Any children's story with a setting of a different time and place should be frelected in the dialect and the dialogue of the story" (241). As it relates to Working Cotton it is the dialect that truly makes the story convincing. Another strong aspect of this book are Carole Byard's detailed illustrations. These drawings do a great job of depicting the strain and hardships that cotton pickers dealt with on a daily basis. Every picture clearly illustrates the feelings and emotions of the characters. The illustrations take up entirely both sides of every page while the text is written on top of them. Overall, I think that this story is a strong cultural story for children to read. I believe that it is important to for children to understand the importance of hard work and willingness to help. Too many children are growing up expecting to always be taken care of. My generation is very guilty of this. Books like Working Cotton, though too remedial for adults, can go a long way to establishing an appreciation for hard work and good literature. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Migrant labor   2. Fiction   3. Cotton picking   4. Family life   5. African Americans   6. Preschool Picture Story Books   7. Children's 4-8   8. Juvenile Fiction   9. Ethnic - General   10. Lifestyles - Farm Life & Ranch Life   

Subjects:  1. Irish   2. Canada   3. Migrations   4. History   5. 19th century   6. Emigration And Immigration   7. History - General History   8. Canada - General   

Customer Reviews (2)

An engaging and candid memoir
Piloto: Migrant Worker To Jet Pilot by Henry Cervantes is his personal story of being a Mexican-American pilot who proudly served the United States Air Force. An engaging and candid memoir of what it was like to be a Latino in a life-or-death field dominated by Caucasians, Piloto offers the reader a firsthand witness of one man's transformation in while serving in the Air Force both during and after World War II. Piloto is a unique and welcome contribution to American Military and Aviation History collections.

A solid, entertaining read
I heard Hank Cervantes speak at a reunion of the famed "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group and was so impressed I went out and got this book. It was just as impressive. What an incredible story! A child of migrant workers, growing up in the harshest condiditons imaginable, dreams of something beyond the farm fields. He stays in school, works hard and eventually is accepted into pilot training during WWII. He has to put up with bigotry and racism at every turn, yet something in him won't let him give in or up. Eventually he achieves ranking and position few Hispanics in the military have. Besides being a great story teller, Cervantes is also a great role model for youth--minority and otherwise. Then to top it all off, the book is filled with details about B-17s, B-47s and the B-58 Hustler--a perfect read for an ol' aviation buff like me. This one should be in every school library in the country. Read it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Military   2. Cervantes, Henry,   3. 1923-   4. United States   5. Air Force   6. Officers   7. Air Forces   8. Military Personnel   9. Biography / Autobiography   10. Biography & Autobiography   11. Ethnic Cultures - General   12. Aviation - History   13. Ethnic Studies - General   14. Social Science   15. Military Science   16. Technology   

Subjects:  1. Muhajir (Pakistani people)   2. Politics and government   3. Muhajir Qaumi Muvment   4. Political violence   5. Pakistan   6. Archaeology / Anthropology   7. Social Science   8. Anthropology - Cultural   9. Violence in Society   10. Political Ideologies - Nationalism   

Subjects:  1. Human Geography   2. Women, Black   3. South Africa   4. Social conditions   5. Migrant labor   6. Housing   7. Sociology   8. Social Science   9. Women's Studies - General   10. Africa - South - South Africa   11. History   12. Gay Studies   

Customer Reviews (5)

Wow! Francisco Jiménez hits a HOME RUN again
This is yet another powerful children's book by Francisco Jiménez. His books, based upon his own experiences as a child of migrant farmworkers, are consistently both beautiful and instructive, heart-rending and joyous. For the vast majority of Americans who don't think about the lives of the people pick and process the food we eat, this book is a gentle, but strong reminder of the continued existance of poverty in our nation.

Attention Parents!
I actually found this book in a barber shop. The illustrations got the attention of my 2 year old. What a find! Every parent regardless of the age of their children should read this book at bed time. It had the attention of my four children, ages 2 to 10. I actually felt like I was reading my parents, and grandparents Christmas story. I was lucky enough to not have to live my life through rough times like this. I was able to have the education that my parents and grandparents worked so hard for, but only could dream of. This story helped me remember and appreciate all they had to endure. What a story it brought me back to my roots. Only warning I have for future readers... have tissues close at hand!

The Christmas Gift by Francisco Jimenez
Many Christmas books talk about wonderous gifts and fantasy that is often too commercial. This wonderful story will help children find the true meaning behind Christmas, and see that everybody does not experience Christmas in the same manner, or get every thing they want. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Migrant labor   2. Fiction   3. Mexican Americans   4. Christmas   5. Spanish language materials   6. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks   7. Juvenile Fiction   8. Holidays & Festivals - Christmas   9. Social Situations - Moving   10. Ethnic - Hispanic & Latino   

Subjects:  1. Children of migrant laborers   2. Education   3. United States   4. Children of immigrants   5. Mexicans   6. Education Of Spanish-Speaking Students   7. Multicultural Education   8. Education / Teaching   9. Special Education - General   

Subjects:  1. Sicily (Italy)   2. Emigration and immigration   3. History   4. United States   5. Alien labor, Italian   

Customer Reviews (2)

Accessibly revealed in the course of this involving account
Students of California history and agricultural development will find Cultivating California an intriguing story of growers, specialty crops, and labor developments in the state from 1875-1920, revealing how politicians, growers, and organizations interacted in the process of cultivating California's crops. Labor relations and agricultural development planning are all accessibly revealed in the course of this involving account.

From the publisher's website
"This is an important book because it dares to take on -- with considerable success -- a paradigm that has prevailed since the publication of Carey McWilliams's Factories in the Field in 1939. Cultivating California is a crisply written, fast-paced narrative based upon extraordinary research. It is also a courageous effort to clarify the history of agriculture in California by making room for the high ideals of the turn-of-the-century horticultural generation." -- Kevin Starr, Business History Review

"This detailed history of four central and northern California agricultural communities is developed around pivotal issues of race, gender, market forces, and entrepreneurial vision. It is local history at its best." -- Harry C. McDean, Western Historical Quarterly

"Cultivating California is expertly researched and gracefully written... [It] is an extremely important book that will be read by scholars in agricultural, labor, and California history." -- David Igler, Agricultural History

"Vaught... is a good writer, but an even more valuable trait... is his dedication to research. This book tells an intriguing story, and it should thus rank very high on the reading list of any historian interested in the history of agriculture and labor in the American West." -- Carlos A. Schwantes, Journal of American History

"A must for scholars interested in the Golden State's controversial history." -- Paul Rhode, Agricultural History Review ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Agricultural laborers   2. California   3. History   4. Migrant agricultural laborers   5. Industrial relations   6. Migrant Workers   7. Agricultural History   8. History - General History   9. Business & Economics   10. Industries - General   11. United States - State & Local - General   12. Labor   13. Agriculture - General   14. Technology   

Subjects:  1. Ethnology   2. Oceania   3. Congresses   4. Migration, Internal   5. Social conditions   

Subjects:  1. Washington (D.C.)   2. Emigration and immigration   3. History   4. Migrant labor   5. Alien labor   6. Sociology   7. Social Science   8. Minority Studies - Ethnic American   9. United States - State & Local - General   10. Emigration & Immigration   

Sometimes you read a story and it almost seems too nice. This book may seem to be one of those at first, but the difference is that this story is true! Tomás and the Library Lady is the wonderfully illustrated tale of Tomás Rivera and the kind librarian who helped him learn to love books. Tomás started his life as a migrant worker and, when he died, was a university chancellor. (The UC Riverside library now bears his name.)

This tribute to Tomás and his mentor reminds us of the power of stories and those dedicated librarians who have changed the lives of so many people. (Recommended for ages 4-8; it's great for new English readers and is also available in Spanish.) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Hearwarming, True Story.....
"It was midnight. The light of the full moon followed the tired old car. Tomas was tired too. Hot and tired. He missed his own bed, in his own house in Texas. Tomas was on his way to Iowa again with his family..." Tomas' family were migrant workers. As his parents toiled in the fields during the day picking corn in the hot Iowa sun, Tomas and his brother, Enrique, tried to stay cool under the shade of trees, listening to the old stories told by their grandfather, Papa Grande. "Tomas, you know all my stories, " he said. "There are many more in the library. You are big enough to go by youself. Then you can teach us new stories." The library was large and cool, and had more books than Tomas had ever imagined. But more importantly, the librarian was very kind and took the young boy under her wing. And with her help, opens up a whole new world for Tomas; the love of books and learning..... Based on the story of Tomas Rivera, a migrant worker who grew up to become an educator and eventually chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, Tomas And The Library Lady is a heartwarming and inspiring story. Pat Mora's sweet, simple, and quiet text is complemented by Raul Colon's gentle and evocative illustrations and together word and art detail the joys of reading, and the wonderful impact one person can have on a young life. Perfect for children 4-8, Ms Mora includes a short biography of Tomas Rivera at the end to complete the story.

inviting-like the library!
This is a short story of a boy named Tomas, who needs more stories than his grandfather can tell, and so he goes to the library. Poor, migrant and Hispanic, he finds a friendly, caring librarian who provides him with the books he needs to nurture his spirit. The illustrations are warm and textured, lending a rich (almost biblical) quality. The experiences of Tomas, and his fertile imagination, are easily recognizable to children of all ages. The historical note on his later success in life is added incentive to keep going to the library for good books, like this one!

Tomas makes reading a life changing experience
This book is the wonderful true story of Tomas Rivera who was the son of migrant workers and became the chancellor of the University of California at Riverside.

My sister and nephews were in town and they took a trip to the library with their Nana(my mom). I believe that my sister grabbed this book, because it mentioned the library lady. I liked the fact that the author dedicated this book to Tomas Rivera and "for librarians who lure us in."

I read this book to my oldest nephew while he was here. He was absolutely mesmerized by this book. The author draws you in with the tale of Tomas Rivera's life and how his life changed when he discovered the library. The illustrations in the book were beautifully drawn and colorful.

Tomas lived with his Mama, Papa, Papa Grande and his little brother, Enrique. His parents were migrant workers. They picked fruit in Texas in the winter and in Iowa in the summer. They were on their way to Iowa for the summer.

Tomas had always enjoyed listening to his Papa Grande's stories, and he knew all of them by heart. So, Papa Grande encouraged Tomas to go to the library in Iowa and tell them more stories. The next morning when he reaches the library he becomes very intimidated by the big library. Well, things change once he meets the library lady.

She is so warm and inviting to Tomas that Tomas spends the whole day at the library reading. Using her own card, the library lady checks out two books for Tomas to take home and read. While reading, Tomas gets lost in adventures with dinosaurs.

During the course of the summer, Tomas teaches the library lady some Spanish, while she encourages him to read more books. There is a tearful goodbye as Tomas gives the library lady some pan dulce(sweet bread) and she gives him a book.

I'm glad that the author put a note about the story at the end of the book. The note gives a brief synopsis of Tomas Rivera's life.

The major reason I liked this book is the fact that it is encouraging children to read. Reading is the big key to education and success. Also, I think that it is encouraging adults to read to their children, which is definitely important. This book is definitely designed for four to eight year olds.

Tomas and the Library Lady should be a part of every child's life. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Books and reading   2. Fiction   3. Libraries   4. Migrant labor   5. Mexican Americans   6. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks   7. Juvenile Fiction   8. School & Education   9. Biographical - General   

Customer Reviews (1)

A fascinating resource
This wonderful book traces Mennonite furniture from the Vistula Delta region of Poland, through southern Russia, and on to Canada and the plains of the United States. It begins with an examination of the unique styles of Mennonite furniture, and then goes on to show how they developed during the Mennonite's migrations, also showing how the Mennonites themselves developed.

This book is a fascinating resource. It is (in my opinion) a poor Mennonite house that doesn't have some family treasure in it, a piece of furniture or a clock that was brought by the family from long ago and far away, no matter how humble that piece may be. This book places those items in context, showing what they are, and what their significance is. If you are at all interested in Mennonite furniture, then I highly recommend that you read this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Furniture, Mennonite   2. Europe   3. Themes, motives   4. Furniture, American   5. Mennonites   6. Furniture Arts And Crafts   7. Crafts / Hobbies   8. Furniture   9. Woodwork - Furniture/Cabinetry   10. Antiques & Collectibles   

Subjects:  1. Migrant agricultural laborers   2. Northwest, Pacific   3. History   4. 20th century   5. Alien labor, Mexican   6. Migrant Workers   7. History - General History   8. United States - 20th Century/WWII   9. United States - State & Local - General   10. Labor & Industrial Relations - General   11. Latin America - General