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Review: What Can a Citizen Do?

BooksforTopics Reading for Pleasure Recommendations

 

Book Title: What Can a Citizen Do? (Available here)

Author: Dave Eggers

Illustrator: Shawn Harris

Publisher: Chronicle Kids

Publication Date: September 2018

Most Suitable for: EYFS & KS1

Reviewed By: Claire, Headteacher

 

Citizenship is a really complex topic to discuss with young children, so What Can a Citizen Do? would be a welcome addition to any library bookshelf. It’s written as a series of answers to the question; ‘What can a citizen do?’ and, as such, explains how children can show good citizenship through their actions. It gives meaningful examples, that even the youngest children can understand, such as ‘plant a tree’, as well as more thought provoking concepts, such as ‘a citizen can be a bear.’

 

The illustrations are just brilliant. They look like paper cut outs, so have a child-like quality to them. They also feature a diverse range of children, ‘a land of latticed people’, which further emphasises the concept of citizenship. The book finishes with the original sentence, almost as a call to the children to develop as a citizen, which really makes a positive impact upon the reader.

 

It would be perfect to accompany any citizenship scheme of work, or just to have as a resource within a classroom library.

 

(It is a book written for an American audience, so there are a couple of American spellings to watch out for.)

 
 

Curriculum Links: PSHE, Citizenship, All about Me

 

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You can order What Can a Citizen Do? online or from your local bookshop or library.

 
 

Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to Claire for reviewing it.

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