A nine-chapter presentation about child labor developed by a Canadian author and publisher spans the globe, beginning with definitions of childhood and child labor. Children who do household, farm or family business chores are typically not considered child laborers while children officially considered to be child workers are paid to work in factories...hired out or even sold by their families to do farm work, domestic work, or to work as soldiers. The book addresses children who have been thrown out of their homes by their parents, or who have run away and who will do any kind of work in order to survive. Major reasons why children work are covered, such as poverty, caste system, being female, and/or the globalization of many industries. Although employment in U.S. fast-food enterprises is briefly explored, that is not the largest workplace for child laborers; a chart cites 900,000 U.S. workers under the age of 16 in three other categories of labor: agriculture, garments, and sex work. The total estimated number of children at work worldwide is at least the size of the U.S. population; these youth are not just missing out on schooling and an opportunity for a better life, but cutting their lives perilously short. Moving accounts of specific child workers include several references to Iqbal Masih. Clearly reproduced black-and-white and full-color photographs on every page spread and a highly visual format for information within a global context earmark Springer's book. A list of goals to help child workers, and a list naming ways to help achieve those goals, offers hope. (Age 9-adult)

Child labor continues to be a problem that affects both the developing and industrialized world, including the U.S. In this informative photo-essay, activist and journalist Jane Springer details the problems surrounding children in the workplace, drawing on the individual experiences of kids from Nepal to Pennsylvania.