Sonia Sotomayor became a household name when President Barack Obama nominated her to the United States Supreme Court in 2009. Her confirmation made her the country's first Hispanic Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. But even before that, Sonia was an inspiration to others. Sonia Sotomayor has built a life as a jurist, activist, and mother, committed to the rights and advancement of people of all backgrounds and ethnicities.
Irena Sendler was born into a Catholic family in Poland in 1910. Throughout the German occupation in World War II, Irena worked tirelessly to help save Polands Jews from the Nazi horror. Irena saved at least 2,500 Jewish children from certain death during the Holocaust. By the time of her death in 2008, Irena had been honored by the governments of Poland and Israel, Pope John Paul II, and many of those she had rescued.
With the founding of his own newspaper, Garrison used the paper and his association with other abolitionists to advocate for the immediate and complete freeing of all slaves. Through his editorials, he became a symbol of the abolitionist movement by pointing out the hypocrisy of the countrys actions versus the ideals set out by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Harriet Tubman served as an abolitionist, emancipator of slaves, military spy, and advocate for womens rights. Tubman helped lead more than seventy slaves out of captivity and guide them to freedom along the Underground Railroad. When Civil War broke out, Tubman guided an expedition of Union soldiers on a raid in South Carolina that freed over seven hundred slaves.
John Brown joined the side of free-staters in the conflict in the Kansas Territory, fighting to have Kansas enter the Union as an anti-slavery state. History has shown that his actions and the reactions to them were among the most potent precursors of the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.
Sojourner Truth lived a truly remarkable life. She had the ear of President Abraham Lincoln and fellow abolitionists Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and William Lloyd Garrison. One of the most persuasive and influential activists of her day, Truth was also an effective recruiter of African Americans into the Union army during the Civil War.
Born into slavery, Douglass became an eloquent spokesperson for both blacks and womens rights. During and after the Civil War, Douglass became a confidant of presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Douglass also argued for African Americans to be allowed to join the Union army in the fight for their own freedom.
Following the passage of a law that made it a crime to aid in the escape of slaves, Stowe lent her actions and her words to the effort to help slaves and put an end to slavery. She actively aided fugitive slaves and, with the publication of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Toms Cabin, focused the nations consciousness on the inhumanity of slavery.
Slim Goodbody helps children learn assertive communication skills that will help them express thoughts and feelings in an open, direct way. They will learn techniques that will get others to listen and respond appropriately to what they have to say.
Slim Goodbody helps children develop skills to manage and release stress in ways that keep their minds and bodies healthy. Stress can be anything that happens that puts pressure on peoples minds and bodies and causes them to feel worried, uptight, or tense.
Slim Goodbody helps children understand the value of manners and the essentials of behaving well in school, at home, and with friends. Manners make a difference in all aspects of a persons life. The way you present yourself often determines how others see you.
Bullying is one of the scariest and potentially damaging negative behaviors children can face. Slim Goodbody helps young students learn to recognize the different kinds of bullying and presents strategies for dealing with even the toughest situations.
Children who belong to healthy peer groups are generally happier and function at a higher level. Will You Be My Friend? helps young students learn the steps it takes to meet, make, and keep a friend.
Its very important for a child to learn how to make good decisions. In this informative new book, Slim Goodbody helps children learn the steps they should follow in making almost any decision: Stop, Think, Act, Review (STAR).
Slim Goodbody provides children with the fundamentals of money including intrinsic value, and how to save and spend wisely. Money and the way people deal with it, affects almost every aspect of life from purchasing healthy foods to buying running shoes.
Good listening is enhanced by paying attention, making eye contact, asking questions, and giving feedback. What Did You Say? helps make learning to be a better listener easy and fun.
Learning to tolerate different opinions, perspectives, and beliefs is vital to a healthy society. Slim Goodbody's Can We Get Along? helps children understand the need and importance for tolerance, and the steps they can take to increase peace in their lives and in the world.
This important book shows our connection to the natural world and to one another. It asks children to put aside their differences and to work together for the common good. What are our common goals? How can we work toward peace, safety, tolerance, and integrity in our lives? How can we live together with respect, kindness, and friendship?
This book introduces children to the important people who make our communities cleaner, safer, and better. Action shots feature people working in construction, at schools, in hospitals, fighting fires, doing police work, and volunteering. An activity asks children what kinds of things they could do to volunteer in their own communities.
Families are built in many different ways. This interesting book describes the different members who make up a family including sisters and brothers, parents and stepparents, and grandparents. A creative activity asks children to write a book or a story about their families and add family photos.
Children love to take an active role in helping around their homes. This busy book shows children helping out inside the house by cleaning and washing dishes, as well as outside by raking leaves and sorting materials for recycling.
Life in a Suburban City looks at living in cities that have spread from the center far into the countryside. Many people live and work in areas that are miles from downtown. Los Angeles, California is the featured example, and focuses on family life in a typical suburb.
Life in an Industrial Citylooks at everyday life in cities that have grown up around a particular industry. Most people in these cities work in factories, warehouses, ports, airports, or transportation. Houston, Texas, is used as an example showing how people live, work, and relax in the industrial part of the city.
Few people live in the business district of big modern cities. The area where people live in a big city is usually filled with office buildings, banks, insurance companies, and stores. This book focuses on New York City, and looks at the everyday life of workers in the business district.
Life in a Residential City looks at living in the housing zone of a big modern city. City life, with lots of people, traffic, buildings, and roads, is busy and fast-paced. Toronto, Ontario, is the featured example. It looks at houses and apartments, and how people commute to work.
