When focusing on reading particular types of picture books, I find myself bouncing like a squirrel from one favorite to another. The best biographies profile intriguing individuals, with full stories that have been deeply researched and crafted into compelling narratives. Thus, I avoid naming favorites, because each is outstanding in its own way, not in competition or contrast with other titles. The individuals featured may have been world figures or little-known achievers or creators. In a recent post about architect I. M. Pei, it is obvious that his story is as unforgettable as his buildings are iconic and powerful. In the case of this next featured picture book, the name and accounts may not be as widely known, but his life story is equally well-told and his life-work has comparable value. His legacy is not in concrete and steel but in the lives of children to whom he has helped restore true childhood; play, education, safety, and trust.
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| little bee books, 2024 |
From the time he was a child, born Kalash Sharma, he was intrigued by his mother's tale about a tiny hummingbird who tried to extinguish a vast forest fire. Other animals fled, but the tiny bird returned drip by drip, drop by drop, convincing Kalash that even the smallest of creatures can change big problems. The author allows his personal story to unfold gradually in the early pages, revealing how he recognized injustices and struggles that were ignored or accepted by others. This was especially true when he noted lack of freedom or even simple necessities for other children. His concern about children unable to attend school and forced to work all day, every day, soon led to active interventions: making crafts and snacks to sell for money to pay for schooling for others, organizing soccer teams to provide play opportunities, and collecting books from the community to lend to those without books. These and more were steps he took throughout childhood and his teens.
This account also reveals his growing awareness of the millennia-old adherence to the social caste system into which someone was born. Kalash lived his idyllic life because his family was the upper caste. He noted at a young age that the fourth caste, the laborers, cleaners, and servers, were treated as "dirty" and shunned by those in any other caste. His efforts to change minds was resisted, and he was punished by his own family for touching and eating with members of that caste.
Despite the guarantees of privilege, education, and success as a teacher (a position of high prestige) he enjoyed and earned, he quit his job to write and launch a public newsletter aimed at changing society. He changed his own name to one that means "Seeker of Truth". This path to justice and freedom, to assuring that all children could live as children, not as slaves or laborers, took him into the wider world where a lifetime of drips and drops and individual efforts gained the attention of other people and groups. Now there is a global movement with wide awareness and commitment to end child labor everywhere. Back matter briefly explores several key concepts from the narrative, and also provides a few other readings on the topic of child labor in East Asia as well as in other countries, including the United States.
The illustrations expand understanding of the locations, cultural patterns, and relationships within and among the many families and community. The vibrant cover visage of this Seeker of Truth is radiant and energetic. Other images throughout reveal the emotional depth and determination of this precociously aware boy and eventual man, anchoring him in the account as a very real human with very real emotions, despite becoming a global figurehead for childhood justice. He continues to work for children everywhere. The author dedicates this book to, among others, ALL CHILDREN, with the added challenge to "awaken the hummingbirds inside you".
When he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2014 it was shared with Malala Yosafzai. I, for one, knew much more about her than about him, although I admired what I heard. I did a quick search and found dozens of titles for children, in picture books and for older readers, that profile Malala. A similar search for KAILASH SATYARTHI books yielded this one title. He is a prolific writer, and writes books profiling changes in the lives of children rescued from forced labor or trafficking, but that absence of accessible stories for youth ABOUT this impressive and life-changing man is a shame. I hope this is only the first of many to come, and it sets a high bar for quality.
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