Dear Teacher,
This poster contains different fictional and nonfiction stories of orphans in different time periods. Reading about different experiences can greatly enhance a child’s worldview and also teach them about history. This collection of books contains both historical stories and present-day stories to give children a broad view on what it is like to be a displaced child. There are four picture books – The Orphan, Sleeping Moon, The Orphan Singer, and A Little Princess. The Orphan is a Greek version of Cinderella, but a child-friendly one and nestled in an adorable collection of drawings. Sleeping Moon is a story of Christmas and an orphan’s desire to reach out to the children around her and make friends despite her situation. The Orphan Singer is an adventure story about a talented girl at an orphanage who risks it all for her sick friend, encouraging children to stand up for one another. A Little Princess is a timeless classic about a wealthy, lonely girl who ends up doing scullery work for the orphanage that mistreats her. These books all teach children something – to be brave in the face of hardship, and to try and find beauty and wonder even when things seem to be going wrong.
Such is the case with the next set of books, Pollyanna, Pictures of Hollis Woods, Oliver Twist, and The Secret Garden. These books have a few things in common, but the most important thing is that they will last for generations to come. Pollyanna is a much-loved story about an orphaned girl who finds happiness everywhere she goes, even in the face of disability. Pictures of Hollis Woods is about one girl’s struggle to find herself, family, and happiness in the turmoil of her foster system. Oliver Twist is a historical story of a boy who escapes to London and gets involved with a gang of unruly children.
The last book in this list, The Secret Garden, is a lovely story of an orphaned girl who is set on bringing her uncle’s dead garden back to life, symbolizing her own quest to find home without parents. The last two books on the list are somewhat different – The Boxcar Children is a graphic novel, and Orphan Train Rider is a true story. There is a print version of The Boxcar Children as well, but the story is so visual that it fits perfectly into this graphic novel adaption. It is about orphaned siblings who set out on their own and live in an old boxcar. Orphan Train Rider is set around the 1900’s where a real-life boy was sent along with more than 200,000 orphans in a mass migration to find new families.
I believe that all of these stories simultaneously educate and entertain, as should the goal be for children’s literature. For this reason, I think this would be an excellent poster for your wall – to educate children on the lives of others, from this time period and others, and give them perspective of the world.
Sincerely,
Emily Matthews
