GOGGLES! by Ezra Jack Keats (1969, first Scholastic printing 2000) has lots of emotional power in its small package. The setting suggests poverty and pollution as children play amongst the discarded junk of an urban lot. Their "playground" is carefully crafted to meet the needs of the narrative. Like children in more privileged environments, two young boys have a hideout. In only a few lines of text, Keats creates real fear with the familiar drama of big boys bullying smaller boys. At first, the smaller boys stand up for themselves by attempting violence, but they win with their wits. This is a story of empowerment, though Keats spares us life's real horrors by blurring the reality of his visual images.
Teach Them to Be Kind has Goggles. A Jeannie in a Classroom has a Goggles Study.
