Gandhi: Peaceful Warrior

Author: Rae Bains
Publisher: Troll Communications L.L.C.
Copyright: 1990
Genre: Biography/Nonfiction
Pages: 48
Reading Level: Ages 9 to 11 (Barnes and Noble)
Summary: This book tells the story of Mahatmas Gandhi. He was born in Porbandar, India. His father was a kind of Prime Minister for the Prince of this state of India. He was later moved to Rajkot for the same position of work but this state was higher up and more important. India was controlled by Great Britain at this time. It was in Rajkot that Gandhi was first exposed to discrimination. His mother was a very religious woman. As a Hindu, she fasted often. Because of her, Gandhi gained a firm belief in fasting and used it often in his life to promote his ideas and beliefs. When he was thirteen years-old he was married to a girl of the same age. He finished his schooling in India and later attended law school in England. It was here that he began reading the writings of great thinkers such as Emerson and Thoreau as well as religious writings of Buddhists, Hindus and many other religions. This is where he began his personal philosophies and ideas including non-violence or passive resistance. He returned home and used his ideas to lead India to gain their freedom. He went to jail many times for his resistance but he always kept his beliefs of nonviolence and accepted the consequences of his resistance. He fasted as a means of promoting his beliefs of equality and independence. Because of his influence people in India treated one another with more equality and kindness and India was able to gain their independence from England.
Who would you recommend this book to? I would recommend this to any children who seem to have some interest in learning about history or civil rights but also to all children because I think it is a good book to teach children about acceptance and kindness.
Potential problems or conflicts: I don't see any potential problems or conflicts with this book.
My reaction: This book was interesting for me. I had learned a little bit about Gandhi in one of my classes last semester so it was interesting to me to learn a little more detail about his life and how he came to have his belief system.