Children Around the World
Children Around the World is a great book to help introduce the themes of Global Awareness, Diversity and Human Geography. The illustrations are colorful and cheerful. In the book, children from twelve countries talk about their life, their families and their country. Among the topics the children discuss, include Weather, Food, Language, Transportation, Schools, Jobs, Animals, Clothes, Religion, Sports and Recreation.
The children are depicted in a friendly, fun, and approachable way. There are enough details in the illustrations to make them interesting but not too busy. The pictures and text for each country cover a two-page spread. And the pictures and text are interspersed over the two pages. This makes the section for each country look unique and interesting.
This book is a great example of one that can be used to teach across the curriculum. The text is written in the first person, so the child from each country tells about their life in their own words. Each script is different so that all the children are not talking about all the same aspects for their life and culture. This would be a good example of writing in the first person, as well as compare and contrast, for Language Arts.
For Social Studies, there are many ways this book can be used, including geography, topography, mapping and cultural studies are natural topics to discuss using this book. Also, where people live – city versus rural, village versus farm, etc. – would make a good topic of discussion. The pages on China mention the Great Wall, so ancient civilizations could be introduced. For Science, weather and climate are mentioned in the book.
I highly recommend this book. It is very engaging for students, both through the illustrations and text. It can be used across many age groups. And it can be used to teach across the curriculum.
Title: Children Around the World
Author/Illustrator: Donata Montanari
Format: Paperback
*Price: $7.95
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Genre: Non-fiction
Ages: 4-8
EDUCATOR’S Tips, Correlations, Connections, Resources
IB Themes/Units of Inquiry:
Who We Are: My Country and Culture; My Beliefs; My Family and Friends; My Home and School.
How We Organize Ourselves: Work and Jobs; Modes and Systems of Transportation; How Communities and Cities Function; Special Communities – Farms; Shopping and Consumerism.
How the World Works: Buildings and Architecture; Weather and Seasons.
Sharing the Planet: Relationship of humans with animals and plants.
Where We Are In Place and Time: Ancient Civilizations (China).
Social Studies:
Geography (Includes a picture of a globe with the children of the countries mentioned in the book depicted.) Countries included are: Australia, Bolivia, Canada, China, Greece, India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Tanzania and the U.S.
Themes/Units: Weather, Food, Language, Transportation, Schools, Jobs, Animals, Clothes, Religion, Sports & Recreation.
Language Arts: First person perspective
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