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Rating: 
Summary: An important message about the child labor problem of today
Review: The cover art of "The Carpet Boy's Gift" shows a young boy carrying a colorful carpet through a marketplace. Neither the title nor the illustration indicates that this is a story of child labor. But at the beginning of Pegi Deitz Shea's story we meet Nadeem, working in a rug factory in Pakistan. Three years earlier his parents sold him to the Master of the factory for a loan of 1,000 rupees, where Nadeem has worked from dawn to sundown, seven days a week. Now he has only two more months until his "peshgi" is paid back. Nadeem and his cousin Amina would like to go to a school, but as long as they are working in the rug factory, they have no such hope. But then they learn from protestors in the street that a new law has been passed called the Bonded Labor Abolition Act and that the law says they are free. However, even holding a Freedom Letter in his hands does not mean that Nadeem is free. After all, they still owe the master money and he might hurt Nadeem's family and take his younger brother Hakim away as well. Besides, Nadeem has only two months left to earn his freedom. But then Nadeem remembers what happened the last time he had nearly paid back his peshgi: the master had fined him 50 rupees for falling asleep. It is then that Nadeem realizes that if he does not do something, Hakim will be knotting the threads besides him as well. Obviously this is going to be a sobering story for many young readers, who are going to be confronted with the fact that childhood can be very different in other parts of the world (although the book notes that as many as 800,000 children may be working illegally in the United States as well in farming and related industries). Young readers may well find it unbelievable that this could happen to children and that in some parts of the world passing a law is not always enough to make things right since factory owners ignore it and the police do not enforce it. However, "The Carpet Boy's Gift" also shows how even very big problems can be solved by children working together to make a difference. Clearly this is a necessary piece of encouragement for young students after reading this harrowing story. In the back of the book some extra resources are provided to help young readers understand more about the complicated problem and encourage them to find ways to protect the rights of children, beginning with the true life and death of Iqbal Masih, who appears in the book. You will also find web sties and books devoted to other child advocates, the issue of child labor, the work of the United Nations with the Rights of Children, and advice on how to be sure you are supporting good companies and not those that have questionable labor practices when you buy clothes and toys. These are all important because any child who reads "The Carpet Boy's Gift" is going to want to know what to do about the abominable practice of child labor.
Rating:
Summary: An important message about the child labor problem of today
Review: The cover art of "The Carpet Boy's Gift" shows a young boy carrying a colorful carpet through a marketplace. Neither the title nor the illustration indicates that this is a story of child labor. But at the beginning of Pegi Deitz Shea's story we meet Nadeem, working in a rug factory in Pakistan. Three years earlier his parents sold him to the Master of the factory for a loan of 1,000 rupees, where Nadeem has worked from dawn to sundown, seven days a week. Now he has only two more months until his "peshgi" is paid back. Nadeem and his cousin Amina would like to go to a school, but as long as they are working in the rug factory, they have no such hope. But then they learn from protestors in the street that a new law has been passed called the Bonded Labor Abolition Act and that the law says they are free. However, even holding a Freedom Letter in his hands does not mean that Nadeem is free. After all, they still owe the master money and he might hurt Nadeem's family and take his younger brother Hakim away as well. Besides, Nadeem has only two months left to earn his freedom. But then Nadeem remembers what happened the last time he had nearly paid back his peshgi: the master had fined him 50 rupees for falling asleep. It is then that Nadeem realizes that if he does not do something, Hakim will be knotting the threads besides him as well. Obviously this is going to be a sobering story for many young readers, who are going to be confronted with the fact that childhood can be very different in other parts of the world (although the book notes that as many as 800,000 children may be working illegally in the United States as well in farming and related industries). Young readers may well find it unbelievable that this could happen to children and that in some parts of the world passing a law is not always enough to make things right since factory owners ignore it and the police do not enforce it. However, "The Carpet Boy's Gift" also shows how even very big problems can be solved by children working together to make a difference. Clearly this is a necessary piece of encouragement for young students after reading this harrowing story. In the back of the book some extra resources are provided to help young readers understand more about the complicated problem and encourage them to find ways to protect the rights of children, beginning with the true life and death of Iqbal Masih, who appears in the book. You will also find web sties and books devoted to other child advocates, the issue of child labor, the work of the United Nations with the Rights of Children, and advice on how to be sure you are supporting good companies and not those that have questionable labor practices when you buy clothes and toys. These are all important because any child who reads "The Carpet Boy's Gift" is going to want to know what to do about the abominable practice of child labor.
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