It’s Your World; Get Informed, Get Inspired, & Get Going! written by Chelsea Clinton and published by Penguin Young Readers, September 15, 2015.
What are the world issues that our children should know about? What are some ways that children are making a difference today? How can we encourage the next generation to have a global point of view?
Chelsea Clinton has put together an impressive collection of world issues, possible solutions and practical ideas written at a level that your average middle- and high-schooler can understand. Even as an adult, I learned new information and gained new understanding from reading it.
The book is divided into four parts:
- It’s Your Economy (poverty around the world, poverty in America)
- It’s Your Right (education, gender equality)
- It’s Your Body (health, viruses and vaccines, bugs and bacteria)
- It’s Your Environment (weather, endangered species)
With informative narratives, easy to understand charts and maps, relevant photos and many websites to research problems, ideas and solutions, Clinton tackles some of the biggest challenges of today’s world and talks about many of the solutions to give readers a deep understanding of the world around them. The end of each chapter includes a “Get Going!” list – ways that anyone can make a difference today.
At about 400 pages, the book may be too much for some children to tackle at once. I would strongly encourage parents and children read it together. Perhaps everyone reads one chapter (or a couple of sub-sections) a week and then talk about it over Sunday dinner or Saturday morning breakfast. It’s also a great opportunity for parents to hear their children’s views: What are they worried about? What ideas do they have? Maybe Mom and Dad have a related story to share. Perhaps the family can plan a community support event together. There is endless good that can come from this book.
It’s Your World is a great journey of discovery, learning, thinking and inspiration. Readers will learn enough information to be able to formulate their own opinions on global issues. They will also be inspired to think of possible solutions and to take action in their own piece of the world.
This book will make a great holiday gift for your family and for the pre-teens/teenagers on your gift list. Click here to order the book on Amazon.com.
PS: As an aside, review the It’s Your World website. If you choose to read the book as a family, reference the Educator Materials link at the bottom of the web page and open up the teacher’s companion book guide. The questions and writing prompts provided will definitely help start important conversations.
