Families Around the World

by Margriet Ruurs, Jessica Rae Gordon (Illustrator)

Overview

A successor to the popular Children Around the World written and illustrated by Donata Montanari, this book allows young readers to visit with fourteen children, each from a different country, to learn about their families. Based on real children, each one's story fills a two-page spread and is told in the first person, beginning with a greeting in the child's native language. From Ryan, who lives on a Texas cattle farm, to Nkoitoi, who tends the family goat in Kenya, to Baatar, who moves regularly with his nomadic family in Mongolia, there is a vast range of homes, locations, customs and activities presented here, all of it enthusiastically illustrated with bright colors and vivid detail by illustrator Jessica Rae Gordon. There is variety in the heads of the families as well: a single parent, multiracial parents and same-sex parents are all represented. For all the children's different experiences, however, it is clear how much their lives have in common with one another, and likely with the book's readers. The love they have for their family members, the joy they find in play and the beauty they see around them wherever they live are experiences that cross borders. This is a wonderful, uplifting global studies title perfect for exploring cultures and geography. It would also be useful for a social studies unit on families and family relationships. Adding to its value as a teaching tool are suggestions for lesson plans built around the book, as well as a glossary and pronunciation guide for foreign words.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781894786577
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Series:	Around the World Series
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 12.00(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD660L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Margriet Ruurs is an avid traveler and has shared her 30 books with children all over the world. She lives in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia.

Jessica Rae Gordon is an illustrator, designer and visual arts teacher. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

10/06/2014
Readers meet fictional children from 14 nations in this engaging companion to Donata Montanari’s Children Around the World (2001). The children introduce themselves and their families while sharing highlights from their daily routines. Zofia, from Poland, hunts for mushrooms and plays video games with her brother, who uses a wheelchair, while a Kenyan boy named Nkoitoi gathers firewood to cook ugali (a mixture of maize flour and water). There’s a subtle dimensionality to Gordon’s mixed-media paper collages, and a glossary defines the scattering of non-English words—in Pakistan, Murtaza prepares for bed after reading the Qur’an with her family: “Tomorrow, Inshallah, will bring new adventures.” Ages 3–7. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

... this quick global trip can serve as a first look at the larger world.—Kirkus Reviews

Your wanderlust-filled kids will make 14 friends from all over the world and get acquainted with their families, too.—Today's Parent

Inclusive in showing many different family structures, this large-format book offers an amiable introduction to families around the globe.—Booklist

An attractive and informative multicultural offering.—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

09/01/2014
PreS-Gr 2—This large-format picture book presents a variety of families from around the world: biracial, single parent, multigenerational, and more. Fourteen families are included, all based on real people whom the author interviewed. For each family, simple text describes common activities, such as cooking food, visiting relatives, or going to school, infusing these universal experiences with culturally specific details. For instance, a Brazilian family sips maracuja (passion fruit) juice. Another family, who emigrated from China to Canada, eats lasagna with chopsticks, while J-Ch'eel, a Mexican girl living in a Mayan village, wakes up and puts on her huipil (helpfully defined in the glossary as a "traditionally embroidered shirt or dress"). The book also contains a map, with spot illustrations of all the children, that shows where they live. Rendered in a combination of acrylic paint, cut paper, pencil crayon, and ink, and using copious amounts of white space, the colorful collages pop from the page. This title will be an effective window on the world and an introduction to nonfiction text features, such as a glossary, a table of contents, and bolded headings. An author's note suggests activities to help guide children "toward a better understanding of the world around us," including a poem about families. An attractive and informative multicultural offering.—Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL

School Library Journal

2014-06-04
This simple but inclusive informational picture book surveys many types of families.Based on real people that Ruurs met, there are 14 families represented, including Chinese immigrants in Canada, a Texas ranch family, a Mayan village family in Mexico, several European families, and a kibbutz family in Israel. Families in Saudi Arabia, Kenya (a Maasai village), Pakistan, South Korea and Mongolia are also introduced. Each two-page spread highlights daily life and includes a greeting in the family’s language and the words for family members. Sometimes a favorite food is mentioned, like kimbap in South Korea, and defined in the glossary. Foster children are not included, and neither are blended families, but the author strives for diversity, particularly in the European families. The English family is biracial, the French family is headed by a single dad, and Sanne, from the Netherlands, has two moms. Zofia lives in a Polish town and pushes her brother in his wheelchair to church. Collages incorporate acrylic paint, paper, pencil crayon and ink. Detailed and colorful, the variety of vignettes and larger images in each spread complement the text well, although the map is very confusing. A note for parents and teachers includes simple activities but no resources.Limiting African representation to one rural group (the Maasai) is an unfortunate misstep, but this quick global trip can serve as a first look at the larger world. (Informational picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews