Edith Hope FineArmando and the Blue Tarp School

We bought this for all of our grandchildren to read in the hopes that they all learn to appreciate how very fortunate they are. A deeply inspiring true story about what just one individual can accomplish. The update at the end of the book is great.

My son really enjoyed this book. I read along with him and I think it's a great story for children.

This book can be used with K-12 students. My high school freshman Spanish 1 class was inspired by it to collect clothing and shoes for children living in a landfill in Guatemala.

As described -- fast shipping -- thank you!!

The children love this

Book was in great condition, my kids loved it!

Based on the true story of a former special education teacher who started a school for child trash-pickers in the Tijuana city dump in Mexico, this moving and informative book teaches a number of valuable economics lessons related to poverty, child labor, opportunity cost, and education. The authors do an excellent job communicating the difficult living conditions of the most vulnerable of the poor-children who work rather than go to school and live in shacks alongside the dump. They support their families by picking through trash looking for bottles, cans, clothes, and toys to sell and to use. Not only are the immediate conditions miserable, with the foul smell, heat, noise, and flies, but the longer term prospects of growing up without an education are bleak as well.Armando, the main character is this book, is one of these children. Yet hope for a different kind of future marches into his life when his parents give him permission to attend a school at the dump that was recently started by Señor David. Armando understands that the decision is not an easy one for his parents, who depend on his income from picking trash. The school consists of little more than a blue tarp spread on the ground and a chalkboard, but it has a teacher and a group of students eager to learn how to read, write, draw, and do math. Armando's talents with drawing later help to turn new adversity into good fortune for his school.This book makes a tremendous addition to any collection of children's literature that focuses on high quality content. With its developing country setting and the story of the real Señor David Lynch at the back, the book is as realistic as it is inspiring.

An honest and hopeful work of fiction based on the true story of David Lynch and the school he founded on a blue tarp in a Mexican dump, "Armando and the Blue Tarp School" shows that one man's dream can bring hope and change to the lives of others. It shows that one person can make a difference.Armando longs to go to the school Senor David has set up on the blue tarp, but is required to help his family survive by picking through trash in the dump for discarded items the family can use, sell, or recycle. When Armando's desire is at last realized, and eventually a real school built, his life is changed.Perhaps it's not only Armando's life that will be changed. This book will give young readers a new appreciation for the opportunity they have to attend a school with books and teachers and modern equipment. It will provide them with the realization that education is truly the key to their future. They will also come to understand the power of one--one person with determination plus one dream equals a dream come true for all those lives that dream touches.