Rights of the Child: Social Justice Book List #5

The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child which consists of 54 articles and two optional protocols helps guide UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) in its mandate to protect the rights of children.   This extensive document which can be accessed at http://www.unicef.org/crc/ is a set of minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected by all governments.  Some of these rights include the following:

• parental guidance;
• survival and development;
• identity;
• freedom of expression;
• privacy;
• protection from violence;
• health and treatment;
• social services;
• education;
• leisure, play and culture;
• adequate standard of living; and
• freedom from exploitation.

While many books demonstrate children's rights, the books listed below have a significant focus on these rights.

Picture Books

The Flute
by Rachna Gilmore
Illustrated by Pulak Biswas
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2011 

Gift Days
by Kari-Lynn Winters
Illustrated by Stephen Taylor
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 7+
2012

The Little Yellow Bottle
by Angèle Delaunois
Illustrated by Christie Delezzen
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 6-19
2011

The Roses in My Carpets
by Rukhsana Khan
Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
32 pp.
Ages 7-9
2004

Fiction

Alexandria of Africa

by Eric Walters

Doubleday Canada/Random House Canada

200 pp.

Ages 10-14

2008

    

 All Good Children

by Catherine Austen

Orca Book Publishers
300 pp.
Ages 14+
2011

Chanda's Secrets

by Allan Stratton

Annick Press

193 pp.

Ages 12-15

2004

Dear Jo: The Story of Losing Leah...and Searching for Hope

by Christina Kilbourne

Lobster Press

188 pp.

Ages 10-15

2007

Factory Girl

by Barbara Greenwood

Kids Can Press

136 pp.

Ages 9-14

2007

The Paper House

by Lois Peterson

Orca Book Publishers

108 pp.

Ages 8-11

2012

The Tiffin

by Mahtab Narsimhan

Dancing Cat Books

190 pp.

AGes 9-12

2011

Wanting Mor

by Rukhsana Khan

Groundwood Books

192 pp.

Ages 10-14

2009

Watching Jimmy

by Nancy Hartry

Tundra Books

144 pp.

Ages 10-14

2009

Non-Fiction

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees
by Deborah Ellis
Groundwood Books
128 pp.
Ages 10 and up
2009
 

Dangerous Crossings!: Ten Daring Treks Across Land, Sea, and Air 
by Antonia Banyard
Annick Press
146 pp.
Ages 10-13
2007

If You Could Wear My Sneakers! : A Book about Children’s Rights
by Sheree Fitch
Illustrated by Darcia Labrosse
Doubleday Canada
32 pp.
Ages 8-11
1997

I Have the Right to Be a Child
by Alain Serres
Illustrated by Aurélia Fronty
Translated by Helen Bixter
Groundwood Books
48 pp.
Ages 4-7
2012

Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War
by Marsha Skrypuch
Pajama Press
99 pp.
Ages 10-15
2011

Mimi's Village and How Basic Health Care Transformed It
by Katie Smith Milway
Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-11
2012

Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk about AIDS
by Deborah Ellis

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

104 pp.

Ages 12+

2005

Shannen and the Dream for a School
by Janet Wilson
Second Story Press

206 pp.

Ages 8+
2011

SOS: Stories of Survival: True Tales of Disaster, Tragedy, and Courage
by Ed Butts
Tundra Books
120 pp.
Ages 9-12
2007 

This Child, Every Child: A Book About the World's Children
by David J. Smith
Kids Can Press
36 pp.
Ages 9-12
2011

When I Get Older: The Story Behind “Wavin’ Flag”
by K'NAAN and Sol Sol
Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
Tundra Books
32 pp.
Ages 6+
2012

When Children Play: The Story of Right to Play
by Gina McMurchy-Barber
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
48 pp.
Ages 10+
2013