The Center for Children's Books (CCB) collaborated with the National Park Service (NPS) to launch a new Books to Parks website on Lyddie, a 1991 novel by Katherine Paterson that highlights the experiences of young women working in textile mills in nineteenth-century Lowell, Massachusetts. Lyddie is the third in the NPS Books to Parks series, an initiative that links award-winning children's fiction to the real geographic and historical settings in which they take place.
The site includes a reading guide for each chapter of the book with archival images and fact check sections that connect the story to history and introduce primary sources for students to use in answering questions about the book. It also includes "Voices from the Field," a section with short, child-friendly essays by academic experts on themes present in the novel.
"Lyddie helps tell the story of the Industrial Revolution and its many impacts on everyday life: work, of course, but also roads, food, clothing, literacy, education, and understandings of what it means to be free. It explores big issues," said CCB Director Sara L. Schwebel.
Recent MSLIS graduates Emma Hartman and Melina Hegelheimer worked on the project as CCB graduate assistants.
"We worked through the book chapter by chapter, identifying key concepts we wanted to target with our questions or ideas," said Hartman. "Because a lot of the concepts connect throughout the book, we frequently returned to earlier sections to make sure ideas were presented in an order that would make the most sense to students and help them see the connections."
"We often think of history as static and objective, but the truth is that 'history' as we know it constantly changes, grows, and evolves based on our modern understandings. Only through constant and continual assessment of the historical ideas we take for granted can we gain a fuller appreciation for the deeply human complexities that give us our cultural identity and shape our world. My hope is that this dynamic understanding of history encourages students to approach the world around them with curiosity, empathy, and a willingness to question and grow," added Hegelheimer.
Neither graduate assistant had read the book before starting the project, but after completing their work, they look forward to making a trip to Lowell National Historical Park.
"I hope that the site brings Lyddie's story to life for students by showing them images and sources, but I also hope students learn to engage critically with the books they read on a broader level," said Hartman.