For Every Child, a Better World

by Louise Gikow, Ellen Weiss, Bruce McNally (Illustrator)

The familiar character of Kermit the Frog teaches young readers about the plight of young children who lack the basic human necessities and the efforts of the United Nations to provide such essentials as housing, water, food, and medical aid.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

18 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1993

Reviews

[AnnieM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I think this is one of the best books to describe these rather difficult concepts to any person regardless of age.

Thanks to the lady in Wisconsin for trying to ban it. I would have never found this book without her hard work.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooof. This book packs an emotional wallop. I am not sure what age I would share this with; I think it would depend on the child's emotional maturity. I do think it's an important book, especially in areas where kids might not ever see another child suffering.

[Karen O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text-to-Teaching Connection

This is is a very real depiction of our world, it explains to children and adults of all ages the real-world issues that are occurring now. I would ask my students first before reading this story, what are the things that they are thankful for that they have and are able to do. I would have them write them down and then ask them questions about the things they choose, as a whole group discussion. Next, I would have my students come to the carpet and listen to this story. While reading this story I would use my voice to let the students hear the sadness in my voice to emphasize the realness and reality of this story. Once I finished the story I would send the children back to their seats, to start on a new page, about how they feel now. I would ask that they write about the things that they are thankful for and why. For our next assignment, I would ask my students to come up with ideas that they could share to help just one of the situations that were expressed in the story. I would explain that these are real-world problems and that they are the future and that they are an important part of helping fix the problems. Giving children understanding and then the lead is important at an early age. This will allow them to think and problem solve and hopefully be the change we so desperately need in our world.

[Angela Choe · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A picture tells a thousand words" is expressed clearly in this book. Here the words are not the focus, even though the book can be easily be read by a first grader. The pictures, on the other hand, are key. These images can show and teach children and adults about the hardships of life outside their own and known worlds. In this book, there are topics that even adults struggle to express, but this book effectively teaches understanding.

I can see why a person would want to ban this book, however, it is a simple book with the goal of teaching children, not terrorizing them. If the goal was to create fear in children, this book would have very different pictures. With this book, I can teach my students that yes the world can be an awful place, but as a people, we can change the world for the better. That even this small nice things we do every day can make an impact.

I understand that some people would say it's too dark for young children and while the pictures can be dark for some. When used to teach about the hardships and sadness in life, when used the right way, it could be used to inspire children to make the world better.

[Samantha Mestnik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. This book, narrated by Kermit the Frog, introduces young children to the struggles and adversities other children in the work have to face. This book was challenged because a parent thought the pictures and topics were too intense for her kindergartener. Not only do I disagree with this parent 100%, I think this book should be read to every child. This book is very challenging, not in the level of difficulty but the topics that are brought up. There is a note to parents at the beginning of the book that asks them to discuss the topics with their children because the book is written to introduce children to the larger problems of our world. Brian Henson writes “Children who begin to think about others with understanding and compassion grow up to be understanding and compassionate adults.” I think this book can help children become great adults. As a teacher I don’t know if I will put this in my classroom, I think that it really needs to be read and discussed and if it is just on a shelve on my classroom I don’t know if all my students would discuss it with me. I could use it as a read aloud book and have class discussions

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bright and powerful illustrations and very simple language (a sentence per topic, but in combo with the drawings, it doesn't need more) make this suitable for a range of ages.
Great conversation starters concerning children/human rights, empathy, environment etc.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book as a child, and still have it today. I remember being the 3rd or 4th grade, crying while reading this book. It resonated with me that much, the power and sadness in this book. If more children were given this book, imagine how much better this world would be.

[Lisa Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about creating awareness of the social dilemma of poverty all around the world. Although, the pages only have a few words each, the illustrations seem to elaborate for what the author chose not to express in words. This book is perfect to help students gain perspective of life, livelihood and what it means to live.

[Lafcadio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muppets should never be drawn, only photographed. Also, Kermit as pseudo-narrator? Totally unecessary.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

The motivations and idea behind this book are laudable. That being said, this is easily one of the books that, had I found it as a three-four-five year old, I would have been traumatized by. D:

[Emily Heideman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because it was recently challenged in one of my neighboring communities--Marshfield, WI. I thought this book brought up difficult topics like war, poverty, hunger, etc. tactfully.

[Mellanie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful message.

[Alyssa Casillas]

For Every Child A Better World by Louise Gikow is a book that talks about the basic necessities that all children need but around the world not all children have those things like food, water, and shelter. This book has been banned due to mother on the school board in Wisconsin believing that it inappropriate for children. She states that the illustrations are just too graphic and brings up tough issues like war, poverty,and hunger that children should not know about.
In my opinion, I disagree with this mother. I believe that children should learn about these types of issues because it teaches them how fortunate they are. It can also be used to teach empathy and how to be thankful for what you do have. I think children have become too entitled these days, if we can use books like this one to teach children that other children around the world have it much worse than we can teach students to be selfless, loving, empathetic citizens of this world because this world already has so much hate in it.