It Takes a Village facts for kids
Front cover
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| Author | Hillary Rodham Clinton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
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Publication date
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January 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 352 |
| ISBN | 1-4165-4064-4 |
| OCLC | 76838574 |
| 305.23/10973 22 | |
| LC Class | HQ792.U5 C57 2006 |
| Followed by | Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets (1998)' |
It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us is a book published in 1996 by First Lady of the United States Hillary Rodham Clinton. In it, Clinton presents her vision for the children of America. She focuses on the impact individuals and groups outside the family have, for better or worse, on a child's well-being, and advocates a society which meets all of a child's needs. The book was written with uncredited ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.
The book was republished as a Tenth Anniversary Edition in 2006 and saw publication as a picture book in 2017.
Contents
Contents
- Introduction
- It Takes a Village
- No Family Is an Island
- Every Child Needs a Champion
- The Bell Curve Is a Curve Ball
- Kids Don't Come with Instructions
- The World Is in a Hurry, Children Are Not
- An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Intensive Care
- Security Takes More Than a Blanket
- The Best Tool You Can Give Your Child Is a Shovel
- Children Are Born Believers
- Childhood Can Be a Service Academy
- Kids Are an Equal Employment Opportunity
- Child Care Is Not a Spectator Sport
- Education = Expectations
- Seeing Is Believing
- Every Business Is a Family Business
- Children Are Citizens Too
- Let Us Build a Village Worthy of Our Children
Synopsis
The book emphasizes the shared responsibility that society has for successfully raising children, by looking at a number of angles as indicated in the chapter titles noted above. Clinton describes herself in the book as a Moderate, which is evidenced by a combination of advocating for government-driven social reforms while also espousing conservative values.
Clinton notes in the book many institutions responsible in some way for raising children, including: direct family, grandparents, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, employers, politicians, nonprofits, faith communities, businesses, and international governmental groups.
Proverb question
The book's title is attributed to an African proverb: "It takes a village to raise a child." The saying and its attribution as an "African" proverb were in circulation before it was adopted by Clinton as the source for the title of her book. Indeed, the saying previously provided the source for the title of a children's book entitled It Takes a Village by Jane Cowen-Fletcher, published in 1994.
The authenticity of the proverb is debatable as there is no evidence that this precise proverb genuinely originated with any African culture. However, numerous proverbs from different cultures across Africa have been noted that convey similar sentiments in different ways. As one poster on the scholarly list H-Net wrote, "While it is interesting to seek provenance in regard to the proverb, 'It takes a village to raise a child,' I think it would be misleading to ascribe its origin to a single source.... Let me give a few examples of African societies with proverbs which translate to 'It takes a village...': In Lunyoro (Banyoro) there is a proverb that says 'Omwana takulila nju emoi,' whose literal translation is 'A child does not grow up only in a single home.' In Kihaya (Bahaya) there is a saying, 'Omwana taba womoi,' which translates as 'A child belongs not to one parent or home.' In Kijita (Wajita) there is a proverb which says 'Omwana ni wa bhone,' meaning regardless of a child's biological parent(s) its upbringing belongs to the community. In Swahili, the proverb 'Asiyefunzwa na mamae hufunzwa na ulimwengu' approximates to the same."
In 2016, NPR decided to research the origins of the proverb, and concluded it was unable to pinpoint its origins, but agreed with the H-Net discussion regarding it holding the true spirits of some African cultures. It was part of a class of such-attributed sayings, with one observer stating, "If someone starts an aphorism with 'there's an African saying' it's probably a mythical quote misattributed to a whole continent." NPR itself concluded, "What we found is that it takes a lot of phone calls to track down the origins of a proverb. And in the end, the answer might be: We just don't know."
Tenth anniversary edition
In 2006, It Takes a Village was republished as a 10th Anniversary Edition with a new cover design and a new Introduction by the author that reflected on the continued meaning of the book in the Internet era and following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It also includes a new Notes section at the end that provides updates for scholarly studies that had been conducted in the intervening ten years. The role of Feinman remains unmentioned.
Clinton did not shy away from the book's conclusions during her post-First Lady political career. As part of her own presidential campaign during 2007 she said "I still believe it takes a village to raise a child." And in her second presidential campaign during 2015 she said "Fundamentally, [Republicans] reject what it takes to build an inclusive economy. It takes an inclusive society. What I once called 'a village' that has a place for everyone."
Picture book
Front cover
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| Author | Hillary Rodham Clinton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Marla Frazee |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
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Publication date
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September 12, 2017 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 40 |
| ISBN | 1-4814-3087-4 |
The year 2017 saw public efforts under way to render It Takes as a picture book, an announcement that was made in February 2017. It was also announced that Marla Frazee, a two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, would be the illustrator for the picture book; Frazee said in a statement, "I am deeply honored to help bring Hillary Clinton's life's work and devotion to public service, which has inspired me and millions of others, to children and those who love them." As with the original book, any net proceeds from the picture book would go to charity.
In fact Clinton had entertained the notion of doing this for a number of years, and worked on it with Frazee during her 2016 presidential election campaign. The result was published on September 12, 2017, also the same day of publication as that for her account of her devastating loss in that election, What Happened.
The book is aimed at preschool-aged children, although a few messages are more likely understood by adults, and contains some 117 words. The Washington Post characterized the work thusly: "It captures perfectly Clinton's vision of a multicultural America working toward a constructive goal. So hopeful and forward-looking, the book might even be called 'What Didn't Happen.'"
A review of the book in the industry publication Shelf Awareness said that the picture book took a somewhat different perspective from the original, focusing more on the actions of children than of adults. The review especially praised the art work, saying that "As with all of her works, Frazee's illustrations explode with life ... Her pencil-and-watercolor art is vibrant and action-packed, the story told entirely through her illustrations of the everyday ups and downs of the people working together to create something new and beautiful."
In popular culture
The book is parodied in Tim Wilson's 1999 song "It Takes a Village to Raise a Nut".
See also
In Spanish: Es labor de todos para niños
