Stories and Poems About Children’s Rights
Edited by Jake Hope
Illustrated by Ruthine Burton, Habiba Nabisubi and Chih-An Chen
Stories and poems from prizewinning and internationally acclaimed authors, each highlighting different rights of the child, as declared by the United Nations.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most completed statement of understanding for all children across the globe.
Our Rights is important in offering a look at some of these rights by work from a number of authors, some well known and some less well known, but all with passion for ensuring that children are respected everywhere. It looks at:
The right to life, survival and development
The right to protection from violence, abuse and neglect
The right to education, to reach full potential
The right to be raised by or have a relationship with parents
The right to express opinions and be listened to
Jake Hope, a leading authority on contemporary children’s literature, has chosen stories from Cathy Cassidy, Maisie Chan, Joseph Coelho, AM Dassu, Anne Fine, Paul Jennings, Chitra Soundar and Elizabeth Laird; and poems from Valerie Bloom, Sita Brahmachari, Dom Conlon, Nicola Davies, Jamila Gavin, Maurice Gleitzman, CG Moore, Jackie Morris, Beverley Naidoo, RR O’Neill, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Jordan Stephens and Benjamin Zephaniah.
The illustrators are Ruthine Burton, Chih-An Chen and Habiba Nabisubi, who have just graduated from the Pop-Up Pathways project, a national initiative sponsored by the Arts Council, that develops emerging illustrators from under-represented groups.
Otter-Barry Books are the publishers and have produced this excellent book, which I am sure will be well used by schools across the country. A very powerful book and perfect for readers around the age of 9-13 years, with a diversity of stories and provides a ‘way in’ to difficult conversations about how children are treated in different countries including our own.
Sue Martin – Children’s Literacy Specialist
