Books are a great way to inspire your family to volunteer. Reading to your children will help them develop compassion and understand the issue and serve as a starting point for questions and discussion.
The following books are categorized by issues.
Family Volunteering
Kids with a Purpose Family Guide, Monthly Missions Activities: Make Helping Others a Family Activity by Kids with a Purpose
The Kids with a Purpose Family Guide is an excellent resource for faith based organizations who want to encourage their families to volunteer. A project is developed for every month of the year with step by step instructions, discussion questions and spiritual quotes. Families and their children will understand the issues and be able to take action.
Parents Do Make a Difference: How to Raise Kids with Solid Character, Strong Minds, and Caring Hearts by Michele Borba
This book is a guide and resource for parents with practical ideas for helping kids develop the strengths of character-qualities like caring, self-discipline, self-confidence, getting along, perseverance, self-awareness and problem solving. Author Interview
The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering by Jenny Friedman
Aimed towards families who want to volunteer but can't seem to find the time, this book is an extensive list of resources, sample projects and ideas to help time-pressed families find a way to contribute to their communities together. Author Interview
The Complete Guide to Service Learning by Cathryn Berger Kaye
This book is like an encyclopedia of volunteering. Whether your family wants to get an overview of volunteering or wants to dive headfirst into one cause, this book will get you started and serve as a reference along the way. Author Interview
Teaching Your Kids To Care: How to Discover and Develop the Spirit of Charity in Your Children by Deborah Spaide
Written by the founder of FamilyCares and Kids Care Clubs, this book was the first-ever practical guide to help parents instill the spirit of charity and service in their children while teaching them citizenship, courage, cooperation and tolerance. Author Interview
Animals
Ten True Animal Rescues by Jeanne Betancourt
From a hamster saving a family in a house fire to a dog rescuing a person from under the ice, this book contains exciting stories of animals saving their owners and strangers.
Author Interview
Looking out for Sarah by Glenna Lang
Based on a true story, this picture book tells of a day in the life of a guide dog, Perry, a black Labrador retriever who looks out for his blind owner, Sarah. The story shows the close bond between the strong, active woman and the beloved companion who helps her stay independent.
Shelter Dogs by Peg Kehret
These anecdotes chronicle the lives of eight unwanted strays that were dumped at animal shelters. After their adoptions, these dogs went on to accomplish great things and changed the lives of their loving owners.
Rabbit's Gift by George Shannon
Rabbit's Gift is a beautiful, timeless winter tale about giving and sharing based on a folktale. Author George Shannon has been sharing stories with children around the world for many years. Author Interview
Arts and Music
Marianthe’s Story: Painted Words, Spoken Memories by Aliki
Marianthe, as a new arrival to America, struggles with English until she realizes that art translates to all languages. Author Interview
Show Time: Music, Dance, and Drama Activities for Kids by Lisa Bany Winters
Gotta dance! Gotta sing! It's show time! Kids will learn to become "triple threat" performers, developing their skills as singers, dancers, and actors through more than 80 activities that include imitating a musician or musical instrument, acting out a song, creating a mirror dance, making puppets and playbills, and more.
Children
Cynthia Rylant Author Spotlight
Children of Christmas, Stories for the Season
Silver Packages An Appalachian Christmas Story
Rylant’s Christmas stories remind us and encourage us to reach out to the lonely, the poor and the homeless who live in our communities year round. Silver Package, originally a story in Children of Christmas, describes the expectation, the hope and the gratitude of a boy name Frankie who receives his yearly present from the Christmas train... Read>
Author Interview with Mary C. Turck
Mary C. Turck introduces the history of the African-American civil rights movement to children with hands-on activities directly related to key events. Recipes, songs, and scripts for plays all become part of the learning experience. Author Interview
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting
A small child lives with his father in an airport. He talks about sleeping sitting up, washing in the restroom, and above all, avoiding being noticed. The story runs through all his emotions from a matter-of-fact acceptance to a fierce longing that makes him angry with those who have homes. Author Interview
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
For the Chinese New Year celebration, Sam receives four leisees, bright red envelopes, each containing a dollar. Walking through Chinatown, with his mom, he realizes that the "lucky money" won't buy as much as he had hoped. His mood is further sobered after an encounter with a man he stumbles upon in the street. It is a beautiful story about giving and receiving. Author Interview
The Coat by Connie Korda
“As a coat passed on down, life's been pleasing, Especially when it's been freezing, ‘Cause I've kept those kids snug As a bug in a rug, To guard against coughing and sneezing.” The importance of recycling winter coats for children in need is amusingly conveyed to readers through the eyes of a coat.
Author Interview
The Environment
50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by The EarthWorks Group
Each chapter begins with an often humorous "Take a Guess," followed by an overview of a problem in "Did You Know," "What You Can Do," and "See For Yourself" sections. Statistics and measurements are translated into age-appropriate terms and simple demonstrations impress upon readers the vast quantities of materials and energy routinely used. This book increases awareness of environmental problems and is a superb teaching tool.
Recycle! A Handbook for Kids by Gail Gibbons
This book contains cartoons in primary shapes and colors, which illustrate the contents of a landfill. Discussing paper, plastic, glass, cans, and polystyrene, the author describes how to recycle, why it's necessary, and its benefits.
Snowy White World to Save by Stephanie Lisa Tara
Snowy White World to Save, a book about global warming, is a lyrical tale told in gentle verse, which traces a mother bear's struggle to raise her cubs in a melting world. The book received the U.S. Book News/Best Educational Children's Book 2007 Award.
Author Interview
Healthy Lifestyles
Food Rules! The Stuff You Munch, Its Crunch Its Punch and Why Sometimes You Lose Your Lunch! by Bill Haduch
This is a humorous and well-researched book on children’s nutrition. Haduch's well-crafted prose both instructs and entertains; the book is filled with offbeat facts and wacky humor to keep kids laughing while they learn important health information.
Author Interview
Anna’s Choice by Catherine Carter
Overcoming childhood obesity is more than changing eating habits. Anna learns with the support of friends and family that she is capable of making choices that lead to a healthier and happier lifestyle. Through Anna's story, children are encouraged to become physically active, eat right and be a friend to someone who might need support.
Author Interview
Holidays
The Christmas Gift - El Regalo de Navidad by Francisco Jimenez
"The Christmas Story, El regalo de Navidad is a true story. Like all of my short stories, it is based on an experience I had as a child many years ago. It took place in a farm labor tent camp in Corcoran, California. I t was a very difficult winter. It rained day after day, and we went weeks without work because we were not allowed to pick when the cotton was wet. Our family, like many other migrant families living in that labor camp, struggled to make ends meet. Some people, sold whatever items they could to buy food, like the young couple [in the story]. .I remember my mother's face that Christmas Eve when she wrapped our gifts. And every December twenty-fifth I recall that experience, that special Christmas gift..."
The Can-Do Thanksgiving by Marion Hess Pomerac
Marion Hess Pomeranc is an award-winning author. The Can-Do Thanksgiving was a Bookselling This Week Pick of the List and chosen as an Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International 1999 Book Awards. Read>
My Very First Kwanzaa, Kwanzaa and A Very Special Kwanzaa by Debbi Chocolate
In these three books, the Nguzo Saba, or the seven principles of Kwanzaa, are presented to readers of all ages so that “they may share the good feeling that comes from celebrating and honoring ties that bind people to the spirits of their ancestors”.
Author Interview
Children of Christmas, Stories for the Season by Cynthia Rylant
Silver Packages An Appalachian Christmas Storyby Cynthia Rylant
Rylant’s Christmas stories remind us and encourage us to reach out to the lonely, the poor and the homeless who live in our communities year round. Silver Package, originally a story in Children of Christmas, describes the expectation, the hope and the gratitude of a boy name Frankie who receives his yearly present from the Christmas train that chugs through Appalachia distributing gifts to rural boys and girls. Author Spotlight
The Wall by Eve Bunting
The Wall is a beautifully illustrated and moving story about a visit to the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial by a boy and his father to find his grandfather’s name. Author Interview
The Civil Rights Movement for Kids: A History with 21 Activitiesby Mary C. Turk
This book introduces the history of the African-American civil rights movement to children. Its hands-on activities give young people the opportunity to discover the movement in more ways than just reading: recipes, songs, and scripts for plays are all part of the learning experience. Author Interview
Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Writers by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Fannie Lou Hammer, Biddy Mason, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Dorothy Height. Let it Shine tells the story of these courageous women and others who played an integral part in the civil rights movement. Author Interview
The Homeless
Someplace to Go by Maria Testa
When school is dismissed, Davey has no place to go. Through the eyes of Davey, the author shows how a 'homeless day' is a difficult day, an effortful day during which basic human needs like food, warmth, shelter, safety, and companionship become struggles." Author Interview
A Shelter in our Car by Monica Gunning
After Papa died in Jamaica, Zettie and Mama came to America. They live in the city in the backseat of their car, while Mama tries to go to school and earn money to pay rent for a room. This picture book brings close the harsh realities of being homeless, scavenging for food, washing in the park rest room, and being harassed by police, but also provides a hopeful ending for Zettie and her mama.
Author Interview
The Hungry
Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by Diane DiSalvo-Ryan
Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen tells the story of a young boy at a soup kitchen where his Uncle Willie works. Uncle Willie considers the clients his guests, and not moochers or people looking for a handout.
The Can-Do Thanksgiving by Marion Pomeranc
Dee brings canned peas for the food drive. She puts a yellow sticky with her name and school on her can, hoping to learn where they end up. The church that receives her class contribution sends a thank-you note and asks the children whether they would like to volunteer to serve at the Thanksgiving dinner.
Literacy
Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Palacco
Young Trisha is eager to taste the "sweetness of knowledge" that her grandfather has always revered, but when she looks at words and numbers, everything is a jumble. Trisha endures the cruel taunts of classmates who call her "dumb," and falls behind in her studies. But through the encouragement and efforts of a fifth grade teacher, Mr. Falker, she begins to develop all of her talents, including reading.
More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradby
Nine-year-old Booker T. Washington, lives in poverty in a West Virginia settlement after emancipation. He travels by lantern light to the salt works, where he labors from dawn till dusk, shoveling salt with his father and older brother. Although his stomach rumbles, his real hunger is his intense desire to learn to read. Through this fictional account of Booker T. Washington, the joy, the importance and the power of literacy is expressed.
Seniors
Fall Friends
Fall is beautiful season. But some people can not get outdoors to enjoy the beautiful colors of nature. Your family can bring Fall to them by baking loaves of FamilyCares Pumpkin Bread. Read>
The Sunshine Home by Eve Bunting
Timmie and his family are visiting his grandmother at Sunshine Home, a retirement home. It is their first visit. Timmie is nervous about the other residents, the goofy balloon he has to hold, and the way that everybody's pretending to be happy. Timmie convinces his family to share their true feelings — and everyone starts to feel a little better about his grandmother's new home. Author Interview
Great-Uncle Alfred Forgets by Ben Shecter
When Emily and her great-uncle, a man in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease, walk together, she answers his sometimes-confused questions, like why it's not Christmastime in July or where a hat went that he wasn't even wearing. But when Great-Uncle Alfred tells stories about his childhood, he remembers everything in striking detail.
The Sick, Recuperating or Chronically Ill
Kathy’s Hats: A Story of Hope by Trudy Krisher
From infancy, when her mother stuck a ribbon on her bald head, to the vision of picking out a hat for a child of her own, Kathy relates how hats has marked special events in her life. This includes the hats she wore when her hair fell out from cancer treatments. Author Interview
You Can Call Me Willy: A Story for Children about AIDS by Joan Verniero.
Like most third graders, Wilhelmina Jones loves school, her Grandma, and baseball, but having AIDS means that Wilhelmina faces challenges that that most children don't. Adults fear her disease. When she wants to play in the Little League, her best friend and the coach make sure she is on the team. The story invites compassion and is appropriate for elementary age children.
Sports
Teammates by Peter Golenbock and Paul Bacon
"Teammates" tells the story of Jackie Robinson, the first black man to integrate the major leagues and the courage of Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, a southern white man who befriended Jackie during the 1947 season. Jackie was the target of hostility and abuse from his teammates and the fans. Pee Wee refused to join other Southerners on the team in signing a petition to kick Jackie off the team and did more than that when the Brooklyn Dodgers traveled to Cincinnati to play the Reds.
Special Olympics: True Books: Sports by Mike Kennedy
It’s about ability not disability for athletes who compete in the Special Olympics. This books gives a brief history of the Special Olympics, describes some of the events and how the games are run.
Troops and Veterans
The Wall by Eve Bunting
A beautiful story about a boy and his dad looking for his grandfather’s name on the Vietnam War Memorial. Author Interview
Night Catch by Brenda Ehrmantraut
This is a wonderful book about a soldier sent overseas and his young son waiting for his return. This is the story of a game they play together to keep in touch and to stay
connected during the long separation. Author Interview
