Ruby's Hope

Welcome to Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone! My picture book recommendation today is…

Ruby's Hope: A Story of How the Famous "Migrant Mother" Photograph Became the Face of the Great Depression, written by Monica Kulling,  illustrated by Sarah Dvojack. published by Page Street Publishing, 2019

Themes/Topics: Depression, Hope, Migrant Workers, Dorothea Lange

Opening: Ruby and her family were slow to leave Oklahoma

Brief Synopsis (from Amazon): Dust storms and dismal farming conditions force young Ruby's family to leave their home in Oklahoma and travel to California to find work. As they move from camp to camp, Ruby sometimes finds it hard to hold on to hope. But on one fateful day, Dorothea Lange arrives with her camera and takes six photographs of the young family. When one of the photographs appears in the newspaper, it opens the country's eyes to the reality of the migrant workers' plight and inspires an outpouring of much needed support.

Why I Like This Book: Even though the text is picture-book brief it still conveys to me a sense of what it was like to live through the Depression.

Links To Resources

Read Ruby’s Hope with the following…

—Dorothea Lange: The Photographer Who Found the Faces of the Depression by Carole Boston Weatherford and Sarah Green

—Dorothea's Eyes: Dorothea Lange Photographs the Truth by Barb Rosenstock and Gerard Dubois

To find even more awesome picture books (and browse them by theme!) visit Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books page.