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If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity

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If I Had a Hammer: Building Homes and Hope with Habitat for Humanity

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Overview

President Jimmy Carter’s compelling anecdotes inspire a personal look at Habitat for Humanity that is sure to fire up a younger generation. (Age 10 and up)

For a quarter-century in more than ninety countries, Habitat for Humanity has built homes in partnership with the people who need them, aided by more than a million multigenerational volunteers. Two of the most devoted are former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Now this captivating account, abundantly illustrated with photos, relays personal stories from volunteers and new homeowners with special resonance for young readers. Exploring everything from creative home design to the emotional rewards of helping to build a house from the ground up, this is an essential resource for inspiring future youth volunteers. Included in the paperback edition is a riveting account of building a neighborhood in Thailand for the 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Work Project.
Back matter includes an afterword, an index, and information about how to get involved.

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763647018
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/13/2009
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	7.60(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	1150L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 18 Years

About the Author

David Rubel is the author of the SCHOLASTIC ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE PRESIDENTS AND THEIR TIMES and the SCHOLASTIC ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES. He lives in Chatham, New York.

Jimmy Carter served as the thirty-ninth president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. A prolific author, Jimmy Carter has published more than twenty books. He lives with his wife, Rosalynn, in Plains, Georgia.

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Editorial Reviews

"You have it in your power to ease suffering. Do it. You will be surprised how happy it makes you."
Ann Curry, NBC News — Quote
"This is an inspiring book, telling how ideas starting on a little farm in Georgia have grown to a worldwide movement bringing people together. How? Read it."
Pete Seeger, American folk singer and co-writer of the song, "If I Had a Hammer." — Quote

From the Publisher

In a foreword, former president Carter, who became a hands-on participant in Habitat for Humanity after leaving office, notes that in Habitat's homebuilding work he and his wife, Rosalynn, have found a way “to put our faith into practice.” Personal insights from the Carters, other volunteers, Habitat homeowners and several celebrities who have worked with the organization (Jamie Lee Curtis, Garth Brooks) add diverse voices to Rubel's (Scholastic Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times) uplifting account of the group's mission and accomplishments. The book offers many intriguing nuts and bolts, as Rubel offers a chronicle of Habitat's origins and detailed rundowns of construction processes. Especially eye-opening are vignettes about projects in developing countries, where Habitat strives to reconcile modern building methods with local customs (as when “outdoor toilets are the cultural norm and indoor toilets are considered bizarre”). Copious photos of substandard housing in the U.S. and around the world, the Habitat homes that replaced them and the gratified residents who helped build them underscore both the physical and emotional benefits of the group's work. Ages 9–13. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7 Up—After his presidency, Jimmy Carter embraced his ideals by promoting a humanitarian project. He found one when he decided to build houses for needy families through Habitat for Humanity. Carter's prestige and determination helped the group grow from 7 employees and 40 volunteers in 1980 to one million volunteers in 2009. This book examines how Habitat got its start, what participation means to its volunteers, and its mission today. Enthusiastically and in clear, simple terms, Rubel gives interesting commentary about just what it takes for a group of novices to join together to build a house, including the basic construction and architectural tasks involved. The author also highlights some unique challenges. Focusing on plumbing issues, for example, composting toilets, communal bathrooms, and outhouses doubling as chicken coops make for a surprisingly interesting as well as inspirational story. Besides the facts and practical information, the uplifting spirit behind Habitat for Humanity is captured through the full-color photographs, quotes, and reflections of volunteers and housing recipients. A great choice for book reports as well as for additional biographical information about President Carter.—Margaret Auguste, Franklin Middle School, Somerset, NJ

School Library Journal

An eloquent preface by Habitat for Humanity's most prominent volunteer kicks off this moving introduction to a sampling of the other volunteers who have worked on and/or now live in some of the 300,000-plus homes the organization has built. Rubel traces Habitat's history and describes how it typically first goes about selecting families to work with, then plans and constructs safe, sturdy homes-but it's the stories of the people involved that make the most compelling reading, from President Carter's first meeting with Habitat's founder Millard Fuller ("I didn't know who this nut from my hometown was, but my first impression was negative") to Filipino washerwoman Emma Bocalan's epiphanic "Look at my beautiful home!" and veteran volunteer Sherwood Kirk's closing "I mean, they're letting us build their home, and we're getting so much more out of it than they are." Sheaves of color photos featuring construction sites and joyful faces underscore the theme that giving people not "a handout but a hand up" is genuinely worthy work. (afterword, index, "How to Get Involved") (Nonfiction. 11-18)

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