The start of the year has been busy. I took the Story Genius writing class which was amazing and intense. As a result, the picture books have been piling up in my office, and are begging for reviews. So today I bring you a book that has been dear to my heart since I first heard about it last Fall.
I have always loved to travel, especially internationally. When I was a kid one of my favorite things was to sit at JFK airport and people-watch. There were so many people from other countries. I loved to see how the dress, listen to them speak, see what stuff they carried with them. Sometimes the most interesting things about another culture aren’t their tourist sites but the ordinary daily activities – how they get around, what they eat, what they sell in their shops. I would’ve loved this book as a kid.
Title: This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World
Author/Illustrator: Matt Lamothe
Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2017
Editor: Ariel Richardson
Book Type: Non-Fiction
Ages: 8-12
Theme: Cross-cultural studies
Synopsis (from Chronicle’s website):
Follow the real lives of seven kids from Italy, Japan, Iran, India, Peru, Uganda, and Russia for a single day! In Japan Kei plays Freeze Tag, while in Uganda Daphine likes to jump rope. But while the way they play may differ, the shared rhythm of their days—and this one world we all share—unites them. This genuine exchange provides a window into traditions that may be different from our own as well as a mirror reflecting our common experiences. Inspired by his own travels, Matt Lamothe transports readers across the globe and back with this luminous and thoughtful picture book.
Activities:
- Read other picture books that compare and contrast daily lives such as People by Peter Spier, Same Same but Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, or Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon.
- Look up a recipe for one of the breakfasts mentioned in the book. Here is a recipe for Anu’s breakfast, paneer paratha.
- Print out a world map and have the child color in the countries represented in this book.
- Get an international pen-pal. Here is a good article at kidworldcitizen.org about how best to go about getting a pen-pal in a safe way.
Why I Like This Book:
In this wonderful non-fiction book, we get to peek into the lives of seven kids from around the world and see how different and similar they lives are. We learn what they eat for breakfast, where they live, what they study in school, and more. Each spread has a topic sentence followed by seven examples. An extensive glossary at the end provides additional information. This was helpful because they use the native words when describing the foods they eat for breakfast and lunch.
Please click for larger image.
Please click for larger image.
The author chose a range of families from different economic classes – middle-class kids with private schools and digital devices to families with more simpler means. I was concerned that the child reader might begin to think that one family represents all families from that country. The author beautifully addresses this point on the final page which also has the photographs of the each of the seven families. My only criticism of this book is that all the families are nuclear – mother, father, kids. In many parts of the world, families will include a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle all living under a single roof. I feel that the opportunity to show diversity in families was lost.
Nonetheless, this is an excellent book. I highly recommend for the home library as well as the classroom. Excellent for teachers to use during multi-cultural week.
Find This is How We Do It at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Goodreads
ISBN-10: 1452150184
ISBN-13: 978-1452150185
This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.
Disclosure: I received my copy of this book from the publisher. This review nevertheless reflects my own and honest opinion about the book.
Flowering Minds 