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 PrintableVersion William WilberforceThe man who freed the slavesWILLIAM WILBERFORCE The fourth in a set of children’s workbook / non-fiction texts on key British Christian men in the Footsteps of the Past series. (Bunyan, Booth and Carey precede, C.S. Lewis and Newton are due to follow), this book is pitched at an independent reading age of around eight or nine and the activity interest level has a ceiling of 11 years. Wilberforce’s life is told through paired pages of facts and activities. The text is interspersed with pictures and fact boxes, enabling an easier read. Handy links are made to the Travel With William Wilberforce book, also available from Day One, allowing for more in-depth exploration. The activities involve word searches, anagrams, code cracking, etc., reworked to fit the subject matter. Some reflection on and response to the life of Wilberforce is asked for in a couple of the activities. Asking the reader to write an election statement (page 13), after learning about William’s arrival in Parliament, would really generate some good discussion about promises, and what it is really worth trying to change when you are a politician. However, on the whole, these photocopiable pages are the weakest element of the book. Tracing a track through a maze to link up pictures of Wilberforce’s sons might be fun to do, but does little to teach anything about this great man’s life. It would have been good to have seen each activity page reinforcing a learning point linked to the text. This was true for several activities. The authors missed an opportunity to ask children to do some deep thinking on issues of ethnicity and discrimination in today’s society and churches, a century after slavery’s abolition. The book could be put to great use in a home school or Sunday school setting, where more guidance from an adult could filter out the less useful activity pages, greater reflection be encouraged and help given to bring to life the black and white images and fact boxes. Full colour would be much more appealing. It is great to see such an influential man being shared with children and I look forward to seeing women and influential minority ethnic Christians from Britain and around the world appearing later in the series. Ruth Woodcraft, © Evangelicals Now - August 2006 |
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