Follow Your Stuff by
Get ready to go global! Our cellphones, our clothes, our food: All are everyday things we consider essential, but we seldom think of what and who is involved in making them and getting them into our hands. In Follow Your Stuff, award-winning children's author Kevin Sylvester and business professor Michael Hlinka team up again, this time to tackle the dynamics of the global economy, examining the often-complex journey of ordinary goods from production right to our doorsteps. Using familiar examples, easy-to-follow charts and graphs, and a fun, accessible tone, Hlinka and Sylvester introduce young readers to concepts such as relative value and fair wages and how to think critically about our purchasing decisions. Sylvester's lively illustrations add even more kid-appeal making this sequel to the critically acclaimed Follow Your Money the perfect introduction to socio-economics and an eye-opening essential read for young people.
Mad for Ads by
This amusing and engaging behind-the-scenes look at advertising and its influence will help kids decode the ads that surround them every day and make smart decisions. For children growing up in an advertising-saturated world, here's an eye-opening explanation of what advertising is, how it works and why that matters. The book covers the components of an advertising campaign, from slogans to logos, and the many ways marketers seek to influence behavior, from tapping into fears to using psychological pricing. It then brings these techniques and tools to life by taking readers through the creation of two fictional advertising plans. Along the way, there's information about the strategies that advertisers use to influence their audience, as well as valuable background on how digital technology allows companies to track people and what that means for privacy. It's a savvy look at the business of advertising that teaches children to pay better attention to ads and be more discerning about the messages they find. Award-winning author Erica Fyvie has geared this vital, comprehensive and entertaining look at advertising to children who are just beginning to notice and to be swayed by brands. By building media literacy and promoting critical thinking about all kinds of marketing tools --- from in-game ads to social media "kid influencers" --- the book empowers readers to analyze and respond to what they see every day. Relevant, child-friendly language and examples, along with bold and humorous illustrations by Ian Turner, keep the pages lively and interesting. There are direct curriculum links to language arts, visual arts, technology and social studies lessons. Also included are a glossary, index and selected bibliography.
The Most Beautiful Thing by
A warmhearted and tender true story about a young girl finding beauty where she never thought to look. Drawn from author Kao Kalia Yang's childhood experiences as a Hmong refugee, this moving picture book portrays a family with a great deal of love and little money. Weaving together Kalia's story with that of her beloved grandmother, the book moves from the jungles of Laos to the family's early years in the United States. When Kalia becomes unhappy about having to do without and decides she wants braces to improve her smile, it is her grandmother--a woman who has just one tooth in her mouth--who helps her see that true beauty is found with those we love most.
