Cover Image: The Traveling Camera

The Traveling Camera

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Member Reviews

This is one of those books that shows how complex history can be. Who knows how long it would have taken to establish a safer world for children had it not been for one man and his camera? People tend to be more empathetic when they can see a problem with their own eyes. I've always admired his work and encourage adults to look for more examples. I highly recommend this read to any age!

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This is excellent! I love the story, rhythm of the words and illustrations and back matter. A great book about how one man and his camera made a difference.

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"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
The title "The Traveling Camera" is what caught my eye and made me read this book. The camera ended up just being the means to tell the actual story. It was a good children's picture book to introduce or explore the topic of child's labor.

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This was a really interesting book, looking at the life and work of Lewis Hine, who used photography to explore child labour in the early twentieth century. The book is very cleverly designed, using powerful illustrations alongside text from Hine's own letters and reports. At the end of the book is a comprehensive biography of Hine as well as copies of the original photos of children featured in the book. This part was clearly very well thought out, not just tacked onto the end of the main book, as can sometimes be the case with non-fiction picture books and I enjoyed this as much, if not more than the main part!

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Wow! What a book! Definitely a must read, regardless of your age.

This book documents the life and work of Lewis Hine in the form of a children's book with the eye-widening topic of child labor. In the early 1900's Lewis Hine (who himself worked at a young age to help support his family after his fathers death); eventually becoming a janitor at a school where he was encouraged to work with students. He (with his students) learned photography and began documenting working youth by taking photographs and taking notes of their age and height.

The first (roughly) half of the book is the story, in easy to understand prose and beautiful illustrations. The remainder of the book includes some pictures of Lewis Hine's work and a timeline of his life. Really well done. Very touching. If the book is lacking in anyway, I wish there were more of Lewis Hine's photographs. But all in all, really so thankful to have stumbled across this EXCELLENT book. Very nicely done!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher (Getty Publications), the author Alexandra S D Hinrichs and illustrator Michael Garland for the opportunity to review this advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Publication date 14 Sept 2021.

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A great book about Lewis Hine and how he used his photography to expose child labor practices in the US. The book is mostly illustrated but includes some of his pictures too.

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This book integrates poetic text, quotes from Lewis Hine, and illustrations that are often recognizable representations of Hine’s photographs to tell the story of one man’s crusade against child labor. The text is written as if narrated by Hine. “Notes to the Reader” deal with the use of voice and storytelling in literature, and the role of art in promoting social change. An excellent addition to the literature of social reform.

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