Winners of *The Listeners* by Gloria Whelan

This morning I turned to random.org to select the five winners of this wonderful children’s book:

Here are your random numbers:

1	5	8	14	18

Timestamp: 2009-10-11 14:34:10 UTC

A copy of Gloria Whelan’s The Listeners will be sent to the following people, courtesy of the publisher, Sleeping Bear Press:

• #1 – rhapsodyinbooks – My answer to the question: I like to see hard things addressed in children’s books: slavery, holocaust, genocide, war, etc. Because children encounter these things, and want to understand them. And parents often need help explaining them!
• #5 – Jonnie H – I would like to see the pioneer days in children’s books, showing how different our world was just a short time ago and how hard people worked to settle this land.
• #8 – madwoman-doing-cartwheels – Since my grandmother was a homestead child I think I’d like to see the stories of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s addressed in children’s books. That is just a thought. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
• #14 – Margot – I’d like to see books that deal with the tough issues (war, terrorism, depression era). Kids can handle these issues better than most adults believe they can. In the case of The Listeners I like that it is told be a child. Other children will be able to relate to that.
• #18 - Dani - I would love to see a picture book set during the time of the Vietnam war. I was reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s words on the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, and I was thinking what a shame that so much is often left out of history curricula, particularly for the picture book crowd. The later part of the twentieth century is so often dropped from history classes because of a lack of time; I think a lot of kids would be interested in the portrayal of the nation during a tough time, not so long ago.

If you’re a winner, please send me your US/Canada mailing address.