Stand up For Your Rights

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Summary: A Peace Child International Project celebrating Human Rights
Review: "Stand Up for Your Rights" is a book written by and for children around the world from over 60 countries, who describe in their own words and pictures the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and sets forth the basic civil, economic, political, and social rights and freedoms of every person. This book divides the Declaration into two broad sections, the first dealing with legal and political issues, such as freedom and equality for all people, while the second relates to the daily quality of life of an individual. Within this context the book explores each of the 30 Articles, beginning with the language of the article made simple and then a mixture of historic and contemporary events with the words and drawings of the children and young people. It is the later that provides thought-provoking material, which should serve as an excellent starting point for class discussions. Certainly the topics touched upon within these pages will be easily relatable to what young students see on the nightly news. The book also includes the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1989. Comparing the difference in the rights of children versus those of "humans" should also prove interesting, especially as a way of defining the difference between children and adults. There is also a list of organizations and efforts, such as Amnesty International and Defense for Children International, which gives children an opportunity to do something about this issues besides just reading about them.

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Summary: Great Introduction to Human Rights
Review: Stand up for Your Rights is a fascinating and informative book. Written by youth from around the world, this book puts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into terms that everyone can understand. Photographs, drawings by children, first-person narratives and explanatory paragraphs make this a very readable and eye-catching book. As an ESOL teacher with young students from around the world, I find this book to be unparalleled in offering a view of life that doesn't always make it into the daily news or the movies. I highly recommend this book for anyone of any age who wants to learn more about our world and its people.

Rating:
Summary: Great Learning Tool for Children and Adults
Review: Stand up for Your Rights is a fascinating and informative book. Written by youth from around the world, this book puts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into terms that everyone can understand. Photographs, drawings by children, first-person narratives and explanatory paragraphs make this a very readable and eye-catching book. As an ESOL teacher with young students from around the world, I find this book to be unparalleled in offering a view of life that doesn't always make it into the daily news or the movies. I highly recommend this book for anyone of any age who wants to learn more about our world and its people.

Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction to Human Rights
Review: Stand Up for Your Rights is a great intoduction to humanrights. Children will appreciate the detailed and well chosen artwork and the short passages contributed by children from around the world. The passages come in the form of poems, letters, interviews, and narratives. These passages are short and easily accesible to both children and adults. While the book does attempt to give a balanced view of human rights, some ethnocentric and unbalanced reporting did come through. In several cases the authors failed to explain the reasons behind human right violations. In this respect, Stand Up for Your Rights is a good resource manual for teachers and parents to go over with children, who can supplement the book with discussion or other resources. At the end of the book is a listing of organizations and ways for children to get involved with human right causes. In all, this is a gook book about human rights and I believe children will appreaciate it as well.