The Breadwinner

Resource URL:
https://houseofanansi.com/pages/search-results?search={q=the%20breadwinner}
Media Types:
  • Literature
  • Other
Languages:
  • English
Organization Name:
Groundwood Books
Organization Website (English):
http://groundwoodbooks.com/
School Community:
  • English
Human Rights Themes:
  • Conflict
  • Peaceful resolutions
  • Violence
  • Poverty
  • Safety and Security
  • Religion
  • Education
  • Equity
  • Race, Culture, or Ethnicity
Imagineaction Themes:
  • Thrive
  • Care

Teacher Resources

The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author’s note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.

Youth Resources

The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author’s note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.

UN Declarations and Examples

  • UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  • UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child
  • UN Conventions on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Subject Areas

English


Curriculum Links by Province / Territory

Province: Grades: Curriculum Link:
New Brunswick 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Alberta 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Northwest Territories 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Nova Scotia 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Ontario 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Prince Edward Island 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Québec 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Saskatchewan 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Yukon 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Manitoba 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
British Columbia 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Newfoundland and Labrador 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None
Nunavut 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 None