Emma, who comes from a migrant family, has a passion for writing and books. She gets off task while helping her parents in the field just to write and her parents constantly get her attention for it. She gets enrolled in school and borrows books and takes them home even though she is not supposed to. Her mother makes her own up to what she did, so Emma did. Her mother gives her money out of their "hard-times jar" so Emma can go buy some books of her own. This book portrays poverty and is a good resource to use in a social studies class as an example that children can relate to. ( )

The Hard-Times Jar is a story about a family who are migrant workers that traveled to the North (U.S for work). The family keeps a hard times jar that they are never to touch for "extras" The main character in the story is a young girl (Emma) who loves to read and write. She's always getting caught writing while she is supposed to be working. Now, living in the north, she gets to go a non-segregated school for the first time and develops a real love for books. She loves them so much that she decides to "borrow" a few and bring them home.That night, her mother finds the books. She makes Emma bring them back and tell the teacher what she did. The next day, Emma confesses to her teacher and her teacher is surprisingly understanding. As a reward for telling the truth, her mother reaches into the hard times jar and gives her enough money to buy a book. In this new place, the opportunity to go to school, a good teacher, and her family's love have helped Emma's dream to come true. I found myself really hoping that Emma will continue reading and writing and someday maybe even become a great writer! ( )

This is the story of an 8 year old African-American girl, Emma. Emma loves books, but her family doesn't own any books because they can't afford them from the store. So, Emma writes her own stories. Her family has a hard-times jar, that they save money in for when they really need it. The family works hard working the crops. One day, Emma's mom tells her she will be going to school. Emma is the only black child in her classroom, and she says that in the south she wasn't allowed to go to school with white kids. Emma takes home a couple books from her classroom library, even though they aren't supposed to leave the school. She just loves books so much, and doesn't like that she can't afford store bought books at home. Her mother tells her she must do the right thing, and tell her teacher that she took the books. To reward her honesty, Emma's mom gives her enough money from their hard time jar to buy herself a book. This is a great story to show readers that times can be so tough for some, that they struggle to afford something as basic as a book.

This is a great non-fiction book that takes children through the life of a little girl that would do anything just to own a store bought book. Her and her family struggle to make ends meet but in the end she gets to buy a book for doing the right thing. This book is a great multi-cultural book to teach children that everyone comes from different lifestyles and to not take things for granted like books. ( )