Where We Live: Mapping Neighborhoods of Kids Around the Globe
by Margriet Ruurs (Author) Wenjia Tang (Illustrator)
This fascinating look at 16 children's neighborhoods around the world broadens readers' understanding of global cultures.
This unique illustrated map book explores the neighborhoods of 16 real children from around the world. Author Margriet Ruurs, who met many of these children in her travels, tells the story of each child's neighborhood by highlighting the places that are important to them, such as where they live, go to school and play, as well as interesting facts about their lives, including the food they eat, their religious practices and the sights and smells they encounter every day. From big cities, such as Amsterdam and Beijing, to small communities, such as Salt Spring Island in Canada and the village of Komanyana in Zambia, each place is special to the children who live there.
In the book's opening pages, Ruurs explains what a map is and what its component parts are: compass rose, legend, scale bar. Then, each child's story gets its own spread, with Wenjia Tang's playful and inviting maps as a backdrop featuring illustrations of the important places and a legend specific to that map. Each of the maps in the book is based on the child's actual neighborhood. The "Say It!" box includes words and phrases in the child's native language. This book has a wealth of social studies applications: it's both a valuable resource ... and an insightful look at how much children around the world have in common, this book has a wealth of social studies applications. It makes a perfect jumping-off point for projects in which children create their own map and story or do further research on any of the neighborhoods in the book. Back matter includes activities, a glossary, an author's note and a further-reading list.
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Gr 2-5--From Tongareva, in the Cook Islands, to Salt Spring Island in Canada, from Cambridge, MA, in the United States to Nueva Esperanza in Honduras, and including Venezuela, Antarctica, Spain, the Netherlands, Romania, Egypt, Ethiopia, Zambia, Pakistan, India, China, and Cambodia, 16 maps of where children live demonstrate neighborhoods large and small. It's a fascinating structure for exploring both the habitats of children and their experiences, showing a tan-skinned boy named Moana, for example, on the beach in Tongareva, and red-haired, light-skinned Jonathan in Cambridge, going to the urban library and synagogue. Leaf lives on a houseboat with her brother, River, in Amsterdam, where she goes to ballet and to the museum with her family. There are legends in each city map, and vocabulary bubbles. The book is not--cannot be--exhaustive, but it is a charming glimpse of children the world over and the differences and similarities that make up their days. The illustrations, with the look of loose chalk drawings or construction paper cut-outs, may inspire readers to craft their own maps; certainly the book will teach rudimentary cartography even as it enthralls. Back matter includes an excellent glossary, index, and author's note that addresses the real children she met while writing the book. VERDICT A pleasant book to browse through or for simple research, with a diverse cast and population numbers that will make world travelers even of the armchair variety.--Kimberly Olson Fakih
Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Alice Feagan is a children's illustrator based in Edwards, Colorado, where she lives in the mountains with her lab (Lady), pug (Homer) and husband (Campbell).
JNF052020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Science | Customs, Traditions, Anthropology
Neighborhoods
Communities
Illustrated works
Human settlements
