Picture Books about Labor Day for Kids

The books on this list are, technically, about labor organizing, worker protections, and strikes, but really they're about kids using their voices when something isn't fair. Which is a lesson worth returning to, whether or not you have strong feelings about the labor movement.

Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin 

A perfect first introduction to why workers sometimes go on strike. Farmer Brown's cows want better treatment, and until they get it, they've stopped producing milk. My boys think this book is hilarious!.

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Mother Jones leads a hundred boys and girls on a march from Philadelphia all the way to Theodore Roosevelt's front door to protest child labor. Real, brave, and a wonderful way to introduce kids to the idea that ordinary people have changed history.

Rose Spoke Out: The Story of Rose Schneiderman by Emma Carlson Berne, illustrated by Giovanni Abeille

 When Rose was thirteen, she noticed that women workers were paid less than men and that the factories were unsafe. She spoke up, and eventually organized 20,000 women to strike. 

Lola Out Loud: Inspired by the Childhood of Activist Dolores Huerta by Jennifer Torres, illustrated by Sara Palacios

When young Lola sees injustice in her neighborhood, she uses her loud voice. Inspired by the real-life civil rights activist and labor leader Dolores Huerta. A great one to pair with a conversation about the food on our tables and the people who pick it.

Please, Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley 

When the hardworking bees in Benedict's garden face unfair conditions, they vote to go on strike. Can Benedict make it right so the bees go back to work and he can get the honey he loves? A gentle, funny entry point for the idea that everyone deserves to be treated well.