Pistes d'exploration

Read the preface by the author. Discuss the statement, “I began to understand how privileged I was to be born at a time in history when a boy could be a boy, growing naturally into manhood and free to choose his own destiny.” How do you think the role of children has changed in the last 100 years?

As you listen, visualize and sketch the journey that James and his father take into the mine. Add words to describe how it might feel to be a child in a coal mine.

Why did James’ mother pack the daisies in his lunch? Why would the author include this detail?

Explore teacher-selected resources on child labour in the 21st century. Do you agree or disagree with children going to work instead of school? Explain your thinking with examples from the book and other sources.

Read the preface by the author. Discuss the statement, “I began to understand how privileged I was to be born at a time in history when a boy could be a boy, growing naturally into manhood and free to choose his own destiny.” How do you think the role of children has changed in the last 100 years?

Make a class list of mining-related words from the text. Use the context to write a definition for them.

After listening to the story read aloud, summarize the text with a mind map. Compare your understanding with a few partners. Adjust your map accordingly.

What do you know about child labour nowadays? Explore teacher-selected resources on child labour in the 21st century. Do you agree or disagree with children going to work instead of school? Explain your thinking with examples from the book and other sources.

Josepha: A Prairie Boy's Story, Malala, a Brave Girl From Pakistan; Iqbal, a Brave Boy From Pakistan

Mots-clés

Picture book , child labour , coal , fathers and sons , mining , Nova Scotia , work

Commentaire descriptif

This story of a day in the life of a coal miner is told from the perspective of a young boy who’s changing jobs today. No longer a “breaker,” he’s now old enough to go down and work in the depths. The language skillfully relates the interesting facts and dramatic conditions of early mining life (in this case, in Cape Breton, NS): “James looked up. The Atlantic was above him now. He could hear the layers of rock shifting and creaking, and he was certain that he could hear the ocean, too.” Dark images glow with lanterns and headlamps, realistically portraying scenes of the shaft, pit ponies at work and the small section that James—with his father—blasts and digs, all morning long. When their section collapses, they are lucky to escape with their lives. This book provides an opportunity for discussion about changing attitudes to worker safety and child labour. But for James, his father and all the other mining families, this is business as usual: “Tomorrow they would go down into the deeps again, for they were miners and that was their job.”