Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

Title: Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

Author: Kathleen Krull

Illustrator: Yuyi Morales

Medium: Acrylics, handmade stamps, and computer-created cutouts

Genre: Biography (mostly episodic)
Other Relevant Information: It won the Pura Belpre Honor Book award in 2004.

Summary: This book is about how Cesar Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association. He became one of America’s most inspiring civil rights leaders because of this accomplishment.

Literary Elements

Accuracy

• Is the story an authentic biography grounded in source materials?   
• Even though the author did not include sources in the back of the book, the biography was authentic by giving details and thoughts of Cesar Chavez’s life.

Social Details: Setting and Plot

• Are the facts and story line integrated?
• Yes, it was told as a story in third person point of view and included facts along the way.
• Are the social details interesting, accurate, and linked to the individual’s accomplishments?
• Yes, there were many details given leading up to Cesar’s accomplishment (founding National Farm Workers Association) such as organizing a march and solving problems among the farm workers.

Portrayal of the Subject

• Is the subject’s character well developed and multidimensional?
• Yes, very much so. His character was rounded – it felt like you knew him. It explained about how he grew up and what his personality was like. He was soft-spoken, learned to not solve conflicts through violence but through words, and respected people.
• Are stereotypes avoided?
• No, there was one stereotype where Cesar had his first meeting and people did not realize he was the organizer because he looked too young. Once people knew how he could solve problems so well, they looked past his age.

Style

• Is the writing style comprehensible and engaging?
• Yes, it is comprehensible and engaging. It includes Spanish words, as if native English readers are being taught some Spanish through this book. The text is also strategically placed over the illustrations where it is not distracting.
• Are complex topics explained adequately?   
• Yes, somewhat. The topic of the unfairness to immigrants working on farms was explained throughout the book but not in too much detail.

Theme

• Is there a unifying theme?
• Yes, fighting for rights and fairness is the unifying theme of this book.
• Does the theme highlight the special qualities of the subject?
• Yes, he had the special qualities of a peaceful leader (nonviolent, stubbornness, problem solver). The theme allowed his qualities to show because he was a fighter, but nonviolent.

Illustrations

• Do the illustrations help the reader visualize the time and place?
• Yes, very much so. Most of the illustrations provide a panoramic view of the place and time. It is amazing.
• Do the illustrations illuminate the character of the subject?
• Yes, it shows his facial expressions and body language throughout the book. It shows his physical description well such as a moustache he was trying to grow.
 

Evaluation: This is an amazing book of Cesar's life.   The illustrations and text are powerful. It showed Cesar’s struggles and how he made it through. I recommend this book for anyone – it is inspiring.

Social Justice Element: Almost all of the social justice elements apply to this book so I am going to choose one: respect for others. Cesar showed a multitude of respect to many people. He organized a peaceful protest, strike, and march for farm workers like him. He did not want to solve this using violence, hence the reason for a peaceful approach. Through that, he still respected everyone.

Follow-up Activity: “Now that you and your students have learned about Cesar Chavez, his dedication to helping others, and his commitment to nonviolence, organize and work together to make a salad for a Cesar Chavez Picnic. Encourage the class to come up with ideas for a recipe and help them divide up the tasks of washing, cutting, decorating, serving, and cleaning up. Students can create Hope Flags by gluing a piece of paper to a toothpick. Ask the children to write on their flags things that they hope for their lives, their family, their friends, their school, or the world. Decorate the salad with the Hope Flags. Have a nice Cesar Chavez picnic!” – from http://www.yuyimorales.com/guide.pdf