Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Alyson Beecher over at Kid Lit Frenzy hosts a Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge and has a roundup every Wednesday. I love the encouragement to explore more non-fiction. I am thankful that she has this challenge because I know I have read more nonfiction texts as a result.

Twenty-two Cents: Muhammad Yunus and the Village Bank 

written by Paula Yoo & illustrated by Jamel Akib

Summary: A biography of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who from a young age was determined to make difference in the world and eventually revolutionized global antipoverty efforts by developing the innovative economic concept of micro-lending. Includes an afterword and author's sources. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Paula begins this biography with an example of Muhammad Yunus and his mother sharing food with a mother and child. Muhammad Yunus grew up in a family that put a priority on helping others. In this biography, readers discover that he learned about others and wanted to help. He didn't just want to help for one day, but wanted to provide what others needed to make real change in their lives. 

Ultimately, he started a bank that was able to lend small amounts of money to groups of people. The bank didn't hand out money alone, but also paired it with some financial instruction and guidance so that people could get out of debt and have enough money to eat and care for their families. 

This will be a wonderful book to share with students for many reasons. It's a great biography and it touches on poverty, micro-lending, some of Bangladesh's history, and working together. This would be an excellent addition to a social studies class, but would also simply be a good read aloud at any time. 

If you want to know more about the book and how it came to be, stop by some of the blogs that participated or will soon be participating in the Twenty-two Cents blog tour. This is a fantastic book and I would highly recommend it for elementary classrooms and even higher.

Finally, the artwork is beautiful! Make sure to get your hands on a copy.