George Ancona (1929–2021)

Kids don’t often get a chance to help others outside their families in meaningful ways. This book may change that.

Ancona’s focus is not on connecting readers with specific organizations but on showing kids the myriad ways they can make a difference, whether working with their parents, their friends, their schools, or people in their communities. A classroom’s students knit hats and scarves for the homeless; families harvest produce for soup kitchens; kids bag plums and snacks for needy show more families; a girl accompanies her dad when he delivers a hot meal to an elderly man; children help train dogs for service jobs; one boy helps another who is disabled to ski; children water young trees during a drought; mentors help younger students with schoolwork; a club cleans up their section of adopted roadway. Ancona gives a general idea of what each volunteer opportunity entails and how long it takes. Lots of pictures fill the spreads. The kids are named in the text, which gives the whole package a nicely personal feel—individuals are doing this work, not generic people. The children are focused and obviously trying their best, but they are also finding time for fun.

While this may be too didactic for many readers to choose on their own, it’s a sure bet for groups and families focused on doing some community service. (Nonfiction. 5-12)

-Kirkus Review show less

I won this book from a NY Journal of Books giveaway. This brief little book with a beautiful cover and very expressive photographs of actual people, is an impressive analysis of what food means to all of us. At first, it seems simple enough, comprised of beautiful pictures of food with varied peoples enjoying its consumption, but it grows into the expression of a much deeper concept. The initial pages have few words but the few words grow into paragraphs when necessary. It is a book that can show more be shared by all ages. It would be fine if it was read by a child able to read by his/herself and it would be just as wonderful an experience if it were to be read to a child who cannot read the book alone. The key thing is the fact that it really illuminates the value of a shared meal. Food is not just a means to an end, satisfying a bodily need. It is a psychological and emotional event as well. Mealtime should be a time of family, a time of talking about the events of the day, a time to grow closer. We have lost a lot of this ability today, since families have two working parents who make little effort to sit down together. If nothing else, this book points out the need to return to the days of shared meals. The book itself does another good job. The photographs displayed on the pages are sharp. Their meaning is imparted with clarity, and the picture is worth 1000 words as the saying goes. I gave this book five stars. It accomplished its purpose and it did it well. It includes almost every culture in its discussion of mealtime. Eating is a fundamental joy in Jewish households, and as a Jew, I can appreciate the value of shared meals since all of our holidays revolve around a wonderful meal with traditional foods and happy conversation. show less

Books like 'Can We Help' are so important because you never know what may inspire a child to act. I have seen children on the news who start a movement on their own without prompting from adults. For example, I know of a child who began collecting used shoes to send to poverty-stricken areas and I had the privilege to work alongside a student in Pass Christian Mississippi who organized a food pantry at his high school to distribute food to the less fortunate in his community.
Through colorful show more and engaging photos, readers are drawn to the activities pictured. The writing is for younger children and uses the children's names in the photos to help the readers see them as real people doing real activities, not just characters in a story.
My only critique is that the book was almost totally Caucasion. It is an odd choice considering the author is the child of a Mexican immigrant and has written many children's books dedicated to culturally sensitive topics. Considering our diverse classrooms, children of all color and ethnecity would like to see themselves reflected in the literature they read. show less

Great book that not only goes through the alphabet but teaches words and phrases as you try to decode. The full page images with people doing the signs with additional clues are very dated but they are amusing and illustrated the words well.