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If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity
President Jimmy Carter’s compelling anecdotes inspire a personal look at Habitat for Humanity that is sure to fire up a younger generation. (Age 10 and up)
For a quarter-century in more than ninety countries, Habitat for Humanity has built homes in partnership with the people who need them, aided by more than a million multigenerational volunteers. Two of the most devoted are former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Now this captivating account, abundantly illustrated with photos, relays personal stories from volunteers and new homeowners with special resonance for young readers. Exploring everything from creative home design to the emotional rewards of helping to build a house from the ground up, this is an essential resource for inspiring future youth volunteers. Included in the paperback edition is a riveting account of building a neighborhood in Thailand for the 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Work Project.
Back matter includes an afterword, an index, and information about how to get involved.
For a quarter-century in more than ninety countries, Habitat for Humanity has built homes in partnership with the people who need them, aided by more than a million multigenerational volunteers. Two of the most devoted are former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Now this captivating account, abundantly illustrated with photos, relays personal stories from volunteers and new homeowners with special resonance for young readers. Exploring everything from creative home design to the emotional rewards of helping to build a house from the ground up, this is an essential resource for inspiring future youth volunteers. Included in the paperback edition is a riveting account of building a neighborhood in Thailand for the 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Work Project.
Back matter includes an afterword, an index, and information about how to get involved.
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
David Rubel
43 books4 followersDavid Rubel has made a career of bringing history alive for readers of all ages.
Recognized nationally as an author, speaker, and historian, David has written fifteen books and edited a dozen more during his twenty-five years in publishing. Most of these titles focus on making American history accessible to a broad audience. Working with many of the country’s finest historians—including Pulitzer Prize–winners Joseph J. Ellis and James M. McPherson and Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein—David has created enduring books that make first-rate scholarship understandable and compelling.
David’s most recent book, If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, features a collaboration with President Jimmy Carter. Folk legend Pete Seeger, whose classic song gave the book its title, calls If I Had a Hammer “an inspiring book, telling how ideas starting on a little farm in Georgia have grown to a worldwide movement.”
Adults and children alike have embraced David’s work. The Indianapolis Star has called The Coming Free: The Struggle for African-American Equality “a magnificent accounting of the civil rights activism of blacks” with a visual presentation that is “stunning and memorable.” His children’s books The Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times and The Scholastic Atlas of the United States have both become grade-school standards, selling more than half a million copies each in multiple editions.
As the president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York, David works with his wife and partner, Julia Rubel, to conceive and develop projects for numerous publishers. Some of these he writes himself; others, he edits. For all, he coordinates the text, image research, and graphic design so that the narratives leap off the page.
A 1983 graduate of Columbia University, where he was sports editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, David began his career as a correspondent for the Pacific News Service, covering everything from rock music to street gangs. He then worked as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins before becoming a freelance writer and editor. In 1990, David founded Agincourt Press in New York City. From 1994 until 2001, he served as president of the American Book Producers Association. In 1996, he moved his company from Manhattan to Chatham, a rural community in New York’s Hudson River Valley, where he now lives with his wife and two children.
David appears regularly on television and radio to discuss his work, especially as it relates to the American presidents. Concise biographies of the presidents that he recorded to support the publication of To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents were syndicated to public radio stations nationwide and ran several times daily during the six weeks leading up to the 2000 election.
David speaks widely on history and presidential politics. He has lectured at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Carter Center in Atlanta and at numerous schools and institutions.
Recognized nationally as an author, speaker, and historian, David has written fifteen books and edited a dozen more during his twenty-five years in publishing. Most of these titles focus on making American history accessible to a broad audience. Working with many of the country’s finest historians—including Pulitzer Prize–winners Joseph J. Ellis and James M. McPherson and Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein—David has created enduring books that make first-rate scholarship understandable and compelling.
David’s most recent book, If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity, features a collaboration with President Jimmy Carter. Folk legend Pete Seeger, whose classic song gave the book its title, calls If I Had a Hammer “an inspiring book, telling how ideas starting on a little farm in Georgia have grown to a worldwide movement.”
Adults and children alike have embraced David’s work. The Indianapolis Star has called The Coming Free: The Struggle for African-American Equality “a magnificent accounting of the civil rights activism of blacks” with a visual presentation that is “stunning and memorable.” His children’s books The Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times and The Scholastic Atlas of the United States have both become grade-school standards, selling more than half a million copies each in multiple editions.
As the president of Agincourt Press, a book production company in Chatham, New York, David works with his wife and partner, Julia Rubel, to conceive and develop projects for numerous publishers. Some of these he writes himself; others, he edits. For all, he coordinates the text, image research, and graphic design so that the narratives leap off the page.
A 1983 graduate of Columbia University, where he was sports editor of the Columbia Daily Spectator, David began his career as a correspondent for the Pacific News Service, covering everything from rock music to street gangs. He then worked as an editorial assistant at HarperCollins before becoming a freelance writer and editor. In 1990, David founded Agincourt Press in New York City. From 1994 until 2001, he served as president of the American Book Producers Association. In 1996, he moved his company from Manhattan to Chatham, a rural community in New York’s Hudson River Valley, where he now lives with his wife and two children.
David appears regularly on television and radio to discuss his work, especially as it relates to the American presidents. Concise biographies of the presidents that he recorded to support the publication of To the Best of My Ability: The American Presidents were syndicated to public radio stations nationwide and ran several times daily during the six weeks leading up to the 2000 election.
David speaks widely on history and presidential politics. He has lectured at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the Carter Center in Atlanta and at numerous schools and institutions.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 6, 2013
Habitat for Humanity is an international organisation founded on Christian principles that has as its mission "To demonstrate God’s love in action by mobilising partner families, volunteers and partners to provide appropriate housing solutions in sustainable communities." This book showcases some of their projects and could inspire a young readership with ideals of volunteerism.
May 4, 2010
"What the poor need is not charity but capital, not caseworkers but coworkers. And what the rich need is a wise, honorable, and just way of divesting themselves of their overabundance."
-Clarence Jordan
"Civilization flourishes when great men and women plant trees under the shade of which they will never stand."
Holla!
-Clarence Jordan
"Civilization flourishes when great men and women plant trees under the shade of which they will never stand."
Holla!
October 29, 2010
Kind of a PSA for Habitat for Humanity, but an interesting, touching, and inspiraing read nonetheless. The books reads kind of like an extended magazine article, with tons of quotes from the people who have worked on Habitat projects and whose lives have been touched by the experience.
January 3, 2010
Quick and simple history of how Habitat got it's start and a look at some of the people who have been around through the years, including Jimmy Carter and his wife.
June 19, 2012
inspiring.
April 24, 2013
The story behind Habatit for Humanity. Charleston, WV and story of local Kanawha Valley affilitate mentioned. Inspirational, educational, good read.
October 11, 2015
Habitat for Humanity is such a good thing to do for people. Championed by the Carters many other famous people have worked building house for needy people also.
Want to read
August 25, 2010*Thanks to Candlewick Press for providing a copy for review.*
--Look for a review to come.
--Look for a review to come.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews