Children Around the World

by Donata Montanari (Illustrator)

Overview

No matter where they live, children are always curious about the world. But nothing proves more fascinating to them than other children. Exploring the themes of commonality and diversity, this informational picture book introduces young readers to 12 children from around the world. Speaking in the first person, the children briefly describe such things as the language, food, clothing, schooling and daily life of their region.

One of the most appealing aspects of this book is the artwork, which features the use of fabric, paper, mesh, string and felt in multimedia collage. Through the use of colors and textures, each child emerges with a distinctive and endearing personality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781553376842
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	03/01/2004
Series:	Around the World Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	422,128
Product dimensions:	9.05(w) x 12.05(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

Editorial Reviews

Eye-catching, cheerful collage illustrations, created with fabric, paper, mesh, string, and felt, depict happy faces exuding plenty of personality. This book will appeal to youngsters, and teachers may find it works as a prompt to classroom discussions about diversity.—School Library Journal

This book offers a multitude of possibilities for multicultural studies with young children.—Library Talk

...a great way to help kids find commonalities with others in a different country...—Tripadvisor

From the Publisher

This book offers a multitude of possibilities for multicultural studies with young children.

Library Talk

PreS-K-This picture book should pique the interest of youngsters learning about the world around them. A brightly illustrated two-page introduction focuses on the differences and the similarities in children everywhere. Readers then travel around the globe from the Philippines to Tanzania, China, Australia, Canada, Morocco, the U.S., India, Mexico, Japan, Greece, and Bolivia, meeting 12 different children, one on each spread. In short, simple sentences they describe where they live; their families; what they eat; languages spoken; and sometimes school, transportation, or religion. Eye-catching, cheerful collage illustrations, created with fabric, paper, mesh, string, and felt, depict happy faces exuding plenty of personality. A simple world map places the featured children in their respective countries. This book will appeal to youngsters, and teachers may find it works as a prompt to classroom discussions about diversity.-Susan Shaver, Hemingford Public Schools, NE Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Montanari (Look Inside a Computer, not reviewed, etc.) takes readers on a bland but not entirely superficial world tour, inventing more than a dozen children in as many countries who step forward to introduce themselves: "Hi! I'm Malaika from Tanzania. I live in Tanzania, in East Africa. It is always hot here in my village. I speak Swahili at home. I like to wear colorful clothes . . ." No individual character comes through, either in the text or in the sunny paper collage portraits, but several speakers comment on the mix of modern and traditional culture in their worlds. "My mother wears pants and sweaters," observes Sadako from Japan, "but my grandmother wears kimonos," and Adam from Canada speaks Inuktitut at home, while at school, "my class is making a Web site." Clean, smiling, well dressed, and evidently leading settled, secure lives, these children aren't telling the whole story by any means. Still, readers not yet able to cope with the level of information in DK's Children Just Like Me (1995) will absorb at least the idea that young people in distant lands live lives that are different in some ways, similar in others. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews