Neighborhoods and Communities
Annotated Bibliography
by
Children's Books
Ajmera, A. & Ivanko, J. (2004). Be my neighbor. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge.
The authors take the reader through varying parts of the world and descriptively show their neighborhoods. Although many of the neighborhoods differ in some aspects such as customs, beliefs, culture, ages and ethnicities, the concepts of connectedness and home remain universal. The book contains descriptions of what a neighborhood is as well as the people, structures, and jobs which are found there. The illustrations are actual photographs and are comprised of many ages, ethnicities, cultures and abilities.
Ancona, G. (1998). Barrio: Jose’s neighborhood. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.
The author describes Jose, his family and friends living in a barrio (neighborhood) in the mission district of San Francisco. Jose attends a Spanish-English bilingual class and plays with his friends on the school playground. Jose and his family participate in different fiestas and the community gardens, buy foods imported from Latin America on the main street, play soccer, and celebrate Jose’s birthday with a special meal and breaking a pinata. Readers learn about various cultural celebrations and other community activities, housing, and historical murals painted within the barrio.
Ancona, G. (2004). Mi barrio, my neighborhood. New York: Children’s Press.
The author translates the book in both English and Spanish and explains life in a barrio. The narrative is through the perspective of a child, Marc Anthony, whose parents moved to Brooklyn from Puerto Rico. Emphasis is placed on cultural activities, food, and family life in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood. The illustrations in the book are actual photographs taken within the barrio and provide helpful visuals to the story.
Bullard, L. (2003). My neighborhood: Places and faces. Minneapolis: Picture Window Books.
The main character, Libby, welcomes the new boy next door to the neighborhood. She takes him to the “alone zone” places or those places in the neighborhood where she can walk alone. Libby introduces Michael to the mail carrier, different neighbors, and the nearby park. Libby’s mother walks with them to other places in the neighborhood which are outside of the “alone zone,” such as the corner store, the toy store, and the pet store. They also meet Officer Higgins near the corner store who talks to children at school about staying safe. The end of the book suggests activities for children to become acquainted with their neighborhood.
Casely, J. (2002). On the town: A community adventure. New York: Greenwillow.
The author tells a story about a young boy named Charlie who is learning about his community. Charlie is given a notebook from his teacher and told to explore his community and write about the people and places he encounters. Charlie learns a great deal about the people who make up his community and values all of their hard work. Charlie also learns some valuable lessons such as recycling and returning lost property while on his exploration. The illustrations help tell the story and bring Charlie’s adventure to life.
Cooper, M. (1995). I got community. New York: Henry Holt.
The author describes numerous aspects of a child’s community and emphasizes the collective helping network. Areas of the community which are described include family, friends, school, law enforcement, spirituality, and other helping individuals. The illustrations are very colorful and represent a variety of ethnicities that live and work together in their community.
Cummins, J. (2002). Country kid, city kid. New York: Henry Holt.
The text contrasts the differences between an urban community and a rural community through the eyes of two children living in each type of community. Ben lives on a farm with his family who raise cattle while Jody lives in an apartment building where she can see tall buildings and busy streets. Readers learn differences in how the two children ride a bus to school, play ball at recess, shop for groceries, get their mail, play in snow, get the books they need, and complete after school activities. When Ben and Jody attend the same summer camp, they become friends.
Cumpiano, I. (2005). Quinto’s neighborhood. San Francisco: Children’s Book Press.
The author presents the story of a young boy named Quinto who describes his family and their jobs in the neighborhood both in English and Spanish. However, throughout the English portion of the book, the titles of Quinto’s relatives remain in Spanish such as mama, papa, abuela, abuelo, tia and prima to promote the learning of these words. Emphasis is placed on the connectedness of his family to each other as well as the neighborhood. The illustrations are vibrant and add energy to the story.
Harshman, M. (2007). Only one neighborhood. New York: Dutton Children’s Books.
The simple text highlights several businesses and community services that are located in one neighborhood. The author emphasizes the variety of breads in only one bakery, many different animals in one pet store, and the wide array of toys in one toy store. Other neighborhood businesses include a pizzeria, market, shoe store, hardware store, delicatessen, music store, flower shop, and an ice cream truck while the services focus on a firehouse and school. At the close of the text, the author introduces the idea that there are many neighborhoods within one city, many cities within one country, and many countries within one world–all wishing for peace.
Kalman, B. (2000). What is a community? From A to Z. New York: Crabtree.
In this picture book, the author defines community and describes characteristics and components of communities in different parts of the world using an alphabetical order format. For example, all communities contain buildings, culture and people from one or many cultures, families and food, government services, jobs, and places for learning. The author explains that important characteristics of communities include development or how communities change and grow; a history, although some communities are explicitly created to portray life in the past; ways to share information such as by computer or telephone, a quality of life or standard of living, and rules for maintaining order, keeping people safe, and treating people fairly. The text could be used to stimulate discussions about aspects of communities.
Knudsen, M. (2005). Carl the complainer. New York: Kane.
The focus of the book is a simple, clear explanation of how children can make changes in their communities through petitions. It illustrates how a group of children used a petition to keep the town park open later. The book also clarifies some of the challenges for children to get people to sign petitions, then make a convincing case for their change to the town council. Overall, the book encourages children to use petitions to make changes rather than complain about problems in their communities.
Neubecker, R. (2004). Wow! City. New York: Hyperion.
The text portrays characteristics of a city through the eyes of a two-year-old who visits a large city with her father. The young child exclaims her amazement when she sees airplanes, taxis, bridges, tunnels, buildings, fire engines, buses, museums, parks, ships, subways, people, parades, and bright lights. The text can be used to initiate discussions about unique features of cities, including problems which many cities face such as pollution and poverty.
Curriculum Materials
Starbird, C., Bye, P. C., Hemstead, J. & Hemstead, S. P. (2004). Read to feed: Heifer International’s lessons from a village called earth, curriculum guide, 5th and 6th grade. Denver, CO: CTIR Publications.
The curriculum focuses on various aspects of communities, including building a proactive and self-reliant community (civics), making choices in order to become an economically self-sufficient community (economics), and wisely using the community’s physical land (geography). The civics unit explores the concept of community and different levels of communities from the classroom, neighborhood, city, state, country, to the global community. Civic virtue, giving time, money, or efforts to improve their community, is also studied, which is similar to the concepts of social responsibility, social action, and good citizen. Civic responsibility, another component of building strong communities, includes obeying laws, serving on juries, paying taxes, and voting. The unit focuses on paying taxes or donating time and labor in order to pay for things the community needs.
Audiovisual Resources
Bestor, T. (Director). (1996). Neighborhood Tokyo [video recording]. Lincoln, NE: Great
Plains National.
This video recording specifically deals with a small community named Miyamoto-cho located just south of central Tokyo. The community is comprised of over 700 families of which there are many cultural values and customs that are specific to the residents. The video points out the struggles associated with striving to maintain the neighborhood’s cultural roots in an area which is rapidly growing and evolving. Throughout the video the viewer is provided an informative narrative as well as a walk through of the neighborhood’s shops, social activities, and its residents.
Colman, W. (Director). (1997). All about neighborhoods [video recording]. Raleigh, NC:
Rainbow Educational Media.
This 12-minute video recording titled, All About Neighborhoods, discusses the concepts of a neighborhood and its people. The video defines a neighborhood, then stresses the similarities as well as the vast differences which occur in neighborhoods across the world. Along with the video, activity sheets are provided for students to complete after watching the program. There is also a suggested lesson plan provided for teachers which explains an effective method to integrate the activities with the informational material.
Fier, H. (Director) & Mantell, S. (Director). (1994). My America, building a democracy:
Neighborhood and community [video recording]. Chappaqua, NY: New Castle Communications.
This particular video is one of a twelve unit series titled, My America: Building a Democracy, which specifically targets what it means to be a citizen in a multicultural society. The educational objective of this video is to illustrate how people living in different neighborhoods and communities work together. The video is accompanied with a Resource Directory Disk as well as a user guide which both provide activities, educational ideas for teachers, and resources for teachers and students. The video and informational materials are available in both English and Spanish.
Schlessinger, A. (Executive Producer). (2006). My community: What is a community? [DVD]. Wynewood, PA: Schlessinger Media.
This 15-minute DVD begins with a definition of community as places where people live, work, learn, and play and illustrates similarities and differences among urban, suburban, and rural communities and advantages of each type of community. The DVD also defines neighborhoods as a place where people live close to one another, which varies in each type of community. Another component is the importance of various businesses (grocery stores and car repair shops), service workers (such as teachers, doctors, mail carriers, fire fighters, and trash collectors), and people to each type of community. Recreational opportunities also vary according to the type of community and its geographical location (such as in the mountains or along the coast). An emphasis of the DVD is that everyone can be good citizens by caring about the community and making it a better place, including children. Children can follow such laws as wearing bike helmets, not littering, and crossing only at the crosswalks, helping their neighbors or volunteering, and sharing ideas with community leaders. Overall, the DVD offers very positive aspects of different types of communities and omits any current problems or issues which communities may face.