Yasmin's Hammer

The main message of this book is to show that when a family works together and perseveres, they can accomplish goals impossible to accomplish alone.
I enjoyed this book for many reasons. I loved the message of the importance of education. For example, in order to send the two daughters to school to learn to read, every family member pitches in and works extremely hard to earn more money. The girls smash more bricks than any other girl at their workplace, the father picks up a more arduous trading route, and the mother pitches in more as well. The family sacrifices a great deal, all for the sake of education. It truly shows how precious literacy is.
I also enjoyed this book because it touches on the struggle of moving from a rural area to show more a city. For example, as the narrator rides into the city with her father and sister she takes in the vast number of people, the vast number of trading stalls, the vast number of smells, sights, and buildings, and then reminisces about life back in the rural area. She talks about how she misses the quietness and simplicity of it all, from the flowing river to riding her water buffalo. I appreciated that the author added in this element. It gave more perspective of the family for the reader and gave the characters more depth. You realize all of the different struggles of the family. Not only are they working extremely hard to pay for school, but they are still trying to adjust to a vastly different lifestyle. show less

Yasmin's Hammer by Ann Malaspina, illustrated by Doug Ghayka is a moving, fascinating story of the desire to learn and a young girl's determination to make a better life for herself and her family. Every morning Yasmin and her sister Mita go to work on their father's rickshaw. Every morning Yasmin asks if she can go to school. Every morning Abba says "soon". Yasmin and her family used to live on a small farm in rural Bangladesh, but they lost everything when cyclone hit. Now Mita and Yasmin crush bricks all day, Amma cleans fine houses, and Abba works with his rickshaw. Yasmin doesn't want to be a maid like Amma, she wants to learn to read and have the chance for something better. Yasmin decides she must have a plan. With extra hard show more work, she earns extra coins and with those coins she buys a book. Now the whole family works harder and longer until Yasmin and Mita can finally go to school and learn.
This is an inspiring story and the afterword, explaining the child labor situation and poverty in Bangladesh is interesting. The text is lengthy, but tells a strong story. The one problem I had with this was the sudden change in Yasmin's circumstances. One moment, her family is barely making enough money to survive. Then, all she has to do is work harder and she has a book. I don't know enough about this situation to know, but that seems too easy. Why didn't she work longer and harder at the beginning of the story? Why suddenly start earning more coins? It seems to imply that Yasmin and other children like her can lift themselves out of poverty if they just work hard enough - which is true, sometimes, but more often not. Still, it's a look at a world most children who read this story won't be familiar with and it is well told.
Verdict: There's a limited audience for this type of picture book in my opinion; it's more likely to find use in a school or in connection with fundraising for a related program. However, it's an interesting story and I think many libraries will want to have this book for children interested in seeing how other children live and maybe in making a difference. show less

This book shows the amazing journey of a young girl from Bangladesh who immigrates with her family in search of a better life and dreams of going to school and learning to read. Yasmin's family was forced out of their home due to a natural disaster, so they moved to a new country where the mother took up work as a house cleaner, the children smash bricks, and the father is a salesman yet the family is still poor. This book is a good representation of the realities in South Asian countries today, and it would be perfect to get students interested in international politics. This book also demonstrates the importance of education and how having an education can open up new opportunities.

3-4 grade level book about two girls who live in Bangladesh and want to go to school but have to work in order to provide for their family. It goes through and tells how everyone in the family starts to work extra hard in order to save money for a book, pencils, and finally school. While it is a sweet story about girls going to school and people working hard for what they want, it also depicts this group of people as poor people who can't afford many things and live in poverty. While I'm sure some of them live this way I don't think it is the ideal way to show that group of people.

How can one not love a book that emphasizes the importance of being able to read? Honestly, it's one skill that can make or break you. This book explores the lives of those whose quest to obtain this basic skill is much harder than most. Focusing on Yasmin and her family, we watch as they struggle to find some way to maintain an adequate living enviroment with the goal of one day sending their girls to school so they can drink of the knowledge they have for so long desired.

A good story at face value as well as a working tool to bring to light the severity of the educational situation in other countries. Something to think about the next time you take a book or reading for that matter for granted.

I would imagine this book would be appropriate for a fourth or fifth grade classroom. The book is simple enough to understand, but also involves a heavier and more sensitive topic.
This book is about a family living in Bangladesh who moves to Dhaka after a storm wrecks their home. This family lives in poverty and the two daughters have to work alongside their father hammering bricks. The main character, Yasmin, wants to go to school and learn. Yasmin buys a book with the coins she saves up and falls in love with the idea of learning. Her father sees this and sends both of his daughter's to school.
I would use this book to represent families living in poverty.

This primary aged book that brings up some serious topics about real life outside of the classroom. These kids are having to work at such a young age to be able to live their life. The overall goal in this book is that the kids want to go to school and learn how to read and write. When this dream finally comes true, they are super excited