11/01/2019
Gr 2–5—Inviting color photographs combined with facts about each country's geography, history, people, and culture entice readers to travel to the featured Asian countries. The content within these titles is uneven, however. In general, it appears that the writers of the series assume that readers come from a Western background. Some statements are misleading, and at least one map that is designed to point to the featured country highlights the wrong one. Most images are captioned, yet a few do not correspond to the text on the page. No sources are listed in the back matter. While four or five current further reading titles are included in each book, all but a few are for adults. There is one common glossary for the entire series. Other universal elements include a list of facts about population, area, flag, and languages spoken; a time line; critical thinking questions; recipes; and organizations to contact for those interested in traveling to the country. VERDICT Pass on this series for its lack of source notes and its adult-oriented supplemental material.
