Kate Lied

This beautiful paintings in the book truly highlight the story of young Jessie, age 13, who traveled alone to America to find a better life. The journey was long and arduous but Jessie passed the time sewing for people that she met on the boat. Once in America Jessie wrote letters to her grandmother and sewed for a friend of her Rabbi. She worked long and hard for 3 years and upon meeting a boy that would soon be her husband she had enough money to bring her grandmother to live with her. show more Younger people will be inspired by her tale and shocked by the story of such young girl being sent to live on her own. show less

Potato tells the story of a family who struggled with employment during the Great Depression, and their challenging road to success. The story was written by an 8 year old girl about her family's history. So while the content may be lacking in detail, the story is described in a way that the target audience (5-10 year olds) can understand and relate to it. The Illustrations was simplistic and welcoming which made the story very enjoyable and lended itself well to the writing.

This book follows a family in the Great Depression. It starts by introducing the members of the family. Then it goes on to say that the dad works in a coal mine and loses his job. He searches for a job and then someone tells them about an opportunity in Idaho picking potatoes. So they go to Idaho to do the job and they are able to keep any potatoes that they pick during the nights. When their job is done they go home they take as many potatoes with them that can fit in their carriage. When show more they make it home after using all the money earned on gas to get home they use the potatoes as money. They also sell them and make them last as long as they can. The dad finally finds a job and they move to Washington D.C. The story ends with the writer saying that maybe the story is the reason that she likes potatoes. This was a great insight to what life was like during the Great Depression. I really liked how they took the potatoes they could have and used them to get through the hard times. The illustrations also do a great job of telling the story. A classroom extension for this book could be giving the students a certain amount of play money and setting the classroom up like a store to have them use their money to purchase only what they need and what will last them a long time. Another would be to have them bring in their favorite food and share with the class why they like that food more than other food. show less

The story is about a family during the Great Depression, who when the father lost his job and their house, they went together to work on a potato farm for 2 weeks.

I liked how it showed not only how hard it was for that family, but also that other people were all going through the same problem. The potato job showed how the family worked together during that time and all made sacrafices to survive. I think children can learn to appreiate that their parents jobs help keep them in their house show more so they will not have to live in tents or travel just to find a way to make money.

Before reading the story, the students can make a list of reasons why their parents go to work, and then after reading it, compare how this family wanted work for a place to live and food to eat, and not just for toys and clothes. The teacher can find other stories about the Great Depression and incorporate this book with a social studies lesson. show less