Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farmworkers Tell Their Stories

I used this book as an extension book for a thematic unit I created over Mexican Migrant Farmers. It is great to bring home the idea that this is not history but is still going on in present day!

I write that as a title because if you look into these children's eyes there is hope and sadness. It bothers me to see how these children and their families are forced to live. I live in the N CA wine country and I see the same thing going on here. Exploitation of the workers, inadequite housing, awful pay. I would LOVE to see a follow up book about these families now that it is 10 years later to see how they have fared. The young gang member who left his gang, the teenage mother who dreams of going to college, the little boy who wants to buy his parents a car. Did any of them make it?

Voices From The Fields is about nine different children all of which are Mexican/Spanish. Each tells a different story about their life. All of these children have one thing in common, they work in the fields or they have a close relative that works in a field. Their stories range from being involved with gangs to the difficulty of moving up in society. As different as these nine children may be, they all care very much for their families and believe nothing is more important. Throughout the book there are photographs of the children and their families. Photographs aid the text in describing conditions and emotions of the people being discussed. Through this mix of text and photographs emotions can be amplified. Children most importantly can aid from photographs being provided since they may not understand certain things they read; yet photographs may open the doors for them. The can better see different feelings such as joy or anger as well as people of different cultures in their own environment. It can also become apparent to children who read the book just how important family is to each of the nine children. They are all care for each other very deeply and this is obvious through the photographs. Julia Hirsch says "A far more complex and elusive relationship between text and image occurs in those books which use snapshots, or other similarly dramatic image: pictures which contain some emotional charge, such as a gesture caught in midstride, an object viewed from an unusual angle, an enigmatic facial expression, a blurred background, or deep shadows and diffuse lighting."(Hirsch, 142) Manuel Araiza talks about his home in the book and such details such as the home being comprised of one room with a kitchen. Next to the text where he is discussing these conditions is a picture of the house. Immediately we feel more sympathetic towards Manuel since we are able to see with our own eyes what he is describing to us. The photographs in this book allow children readers to "experience" a minority culture that most children otherwise would never be exposed to. Hirsch later goes on to say, "Photography in recent years has also given "visibility" to yet other aspects of the human condition which have formerly been kept from most children."(Hirsch 150) One example of these "human conditions" is presented in the book for children to learn about. This condition is the life of migrant farm workers and their families. The photographs in this book depicting ethnic minorities, which also happen to be largely immigrants, provide for an excellent learning experience for children. Books focusing on different cultures and ways of life especially ones with such rich and detailed photography are good for children. These books help to educate on material that is beyond the classroom. Emotions, feelings, and different situations are better understood. It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so by supplementing photographs wit

I have recommended this book to teachers, counselors, therapists, social workers, politicians and law enforcement officials. It takes you inside migrant families lives and lets you share with them their success, sacrifice, and nostalgia. Beth Atkins captures more than images in her photographs. She captures pride, hard work, and nostalgic happy lives away from home (Mexico). Originario de Moroleon, GTO Mexico