cultures

Cora Cooks Pancit

| Tasha

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant

Cora always got stuck with the kid jobs when her mother cooks like licking the spoon and drawing in the flour.  So when her older siblings head out of the house, Cora asks her mother to make pancit.  Cora’s mother gives her the red apron that belonged to her grandfather who was a cook.  After washing her hands, Cora gets to help with grownup jobs like shredding chicken, checking the soaking noodles, and stirring the hot pan.  When the family sits down to dinner, Cora is nervous.  Will her pancit taste good?

This is a very warm book with a bustling, busy family.  It really speaks to the relationship of a mother and daughter, the way that traditions and foods are handed down to the next generation, and the pleasure children get from being part of creating and learning.  Gilmore’s text is joyful as it explains Filipino foods and heritage, giving us glimpses of the family history along the way.  Valiant’s art with its warm, deep colors show us a family that is familiar but has its own particular culture. 

A glowingly friendly look at a loving Filipino family, this book will have you hungry for your own family recipes and offers a great venue to discuss everyone’s particular family heritage through food.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

Interview with Kristi Valiant at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blog.

Also reviewed by Paper Tigers, The Picnic Basket, Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup, and BookDragon.

My Friend Mei Jing

| Tasha

My Friend Mei Jing by Anna McQuinn, artwork by Ben Frey, photography by Irvin Cheung

Following My Friend Jamal, this book captures the friendship of Monifa and Mei Jing.  The two friends both love art, the color purple, and they both plan to be veterinarians when they grow up.  Even when the two friends are different, there are things that resonate in their cultures.  Both of them have names that mean something in the language of their grandparents.  Both have grandmothers that make really weird food like chicken feet and cow foot.  And best of all, both of them are best friends!

McQuinn has created a series where our differences and similarities are celebrated side-by-side.  The power of friendship is at the core of the book and that friendship is based on the fact that the girls are so similar in personality and what they enjoy, even though their backgrounds seem very different on the surface.  The art in books is a vibrant combination of photography and painting.  Though the girls are seen with their heads as photographs, usually their clothing is painted and so is most of their surroundings.  This technique makes for visually interesting illustrations.

A book that will get all children seeing how they are more alike than they are different, this book should have a place on most school and public library shelves.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Our World of Water

| Tasha

Our World of Water: Children and Water around the World by Beatrice Hollyer

This book focuses on one of the world’s most precious things: water.  Water and its use is seen through the eyes of six children who live around the world.  From Peru to Mauritania, from Tajikistan to Ethiopia, from the United States to Bangladesh, each child uses water to bathe and drink, but there the similarities end as we see deserts and monsoons.  Hollyer’s use of bright, clear photographs helps to bring our understanding of our own relationship with water into clarity as we also learn about the hardships of other cultures from other parts of the world. 

Hollyer’s photographs are windows into the lives of these children.  They show their homes, siblings, families, and daily lives.  Though it focuses on water, readers will also get a sense of the overall culture as they read.  Hollyer has written the prose with simplicity and a great feel for the young reader.  There is just enough detail to be easy to read and interesting. 

Expect a lot of conversation after sharing this with a group of children or even one child.  This is a winning look at our world and our water.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

My Little Round House

| Tasha

My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansuren.

Jilu was born into a round world.  His cradle was round and soft.  His home, a ger, was round with a round hole at the top.  And the nest he rode in when they moved was round.  Jilu lives in a nomadic Mongolian family, moving each season.  Each time they move, they rebuild their round home, living there until another season has passed.  When summer comes around again, Jilu is a year old, happily playing under the largest roundness of all, the sky.

This book is a vivid depiction of a culture we know far too little about.  Created by Baasansuren, a native Mongolian, the illustrations are filled with small details of daily life.  Resembling folk art, they are warm, familial and colorful.  The words of the book are simple and a pleasure to read, offering the same rhythm as the seasons.  There is a sense of time here that is unusual in our culture as well as a connection to the earth.  People in the U.S. are struggling to find this sort of easy relationship with time and our world.  Here is a picture book that exemplifies a culture where that is simply a part of daily life. 

Highly recommended as a great glimpse into another culture and way of living, this book is appropriate for ages 5-7. 

One World, One Day

| Tasha

One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley

When I was a kid, I loved looking through my mother’s new Unicef calendars every year.  Each page featured children who were like me, but different too.  I would pore over the captions, decide where I wanted to travel based on the smiles, clothes and colors.  This book from National Geographic has that same sense of connection but difference for me. Kerley has paired very simple text with amazing photographs, each more evocative and fascinating than the last.  This book is about our global connection, celebrating our world in its entirety and uniqueness. 

Kerley’s text is simple but powerful.  She provides just the right thread to tie the photographs together, yet she manages to allow the photos to speak for themselves too.  For children like I was, there is lots of information in the appendix about each photograph, offering captions and geographical notes.  My only quibble is that the appendix refers to page numbers and the pages are unnumbered.  Luckily there are thumbnail images to help match page to information.

So which areas spoke to me here?  Where do I want to travel based on these photos?  Many of the images of India spoke to me with their deep colors and friendly faces.  From this collection, I would have yearned to travel there.  And as an adult?  I still do.

This book reads aloud well, though children will want to know what country the photos are from and what is happening in them.  I suggest using this with smaller groups or single children so that you can discuss and enjoy it entirely.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Every Human Has Rights

| Tasha

Every Human Has Rights by National Geographic.

In classic National Geographic style, this book is filled with incredible photographs of people from around the world.  Each photo tells a story, which brings the text of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights to life.  Powerful and gripping, this book gives readers glimpses of the horrors around the world but also the strength and resilience of its peoples. Each line of the Declaration is accompanied by photographs with captions as well as a poem or statement by a young person that goes with that part of the Declaration.  Readers can modify it depending on their age.  Teens will enjoy the poems and statements while younger children may find them too intense.

Each line of the Declaration is simple and strong.  The accompanying photographs are fascinating and one lingers over them, looking into the eyes and faces and finding kinship there.  When I shared this book with my 7-year-old and 12-year-old we got to talk at length about tough issues like torture, the Holocaust and human rights in general.  Any book that offers me that opportunity is worth reading and sharing.

Appropriate for a wide range of ages depending on how it is used: 7-14.

Vanishing Cultures

| Tasha

 

Vanishing Cultures series by Jan Reynolds

This is a series that will have children thinking, questioning and seeing beyond their personal lives.  Each book in the series focuses on a culture that is quickly disappearing.  The culture is seen through the eyes of one specific child who shows readers around their home, family and life in general.  Information is offered matter-of-factly and contains fascinating tidbits that underline the differences between cultures.  Nothing is overly dramatic, nothing pointed out as strange.  Just a real look at a culture with permission to stare, linger and think.

 

The photographs in the books are just as lovely as the covers above.  Done in a variety of layouts and sizes, the photos really help create a bridge to the reader.  The text is filled with unknown words, but that is part of the fun of reading them.  Children and adults alike will find the About the Journey section at the back interesting and can refer to the map in the back cover to get their bearings. 

Highly recommended, this series is eye-opening and lots of fun.  The text is just the right level for 7-9 year olds to read independently, but the series is also perfect for teachers to share in the classroom with even younger children.