33. Children Just Like Me

Title: Children Just Like Me
Author: Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley
Publisher: DK Publishing
Copyright Date: 1995
Number of Pages: 79
Reading Level: 9+
Genre: Nonfiction

Summary
Children Just Like Me is an educational book to help children from one culture to understand children from other cultures. Each section begins by introducing the continent that the children come from. Then the organization pretty much stays the same throughout the book. Each child is introduced with name in bold at the top. They have them write their name as well somewhere on the page. The child’s family is pictured and their relationship to the child is listed. Often a child is pictured in large with siblings. There is generally an image of their home which shows a little of what surrounds them and what circumstances the child lives in. Sometimes the child’s religious affiliation is mentioned and in some cases their church is featured. Their specific area is talked about. How they are educated is a big portion, including what their notebooks look like, how they get to school and sometimes what the school looks like. Food is a large part of culture so the child’s favorite dish is usually shown at the bottom. Often times the child will have chores to do or have animals so this is a normal section on each child. The clothes that they wear will be described and then the authors had each child write what they wanted to be when they grow up. Some children like Celina don’t wear a lot of clothes sometimes but this is because she lives in the Amazon where its really hot. Other featured children have elaborate dress that stands out when you turn the page.

Recommendation
I think that the dramatic differences in lifestyles will intrigue children, even if all they do is look at the pictures. I would recommend this to kids who are interested in being educated about other people who live in different places in the world.

Problems/Conflict
I felt that this book had a hidden agenda sometimes when talking about these kids who want the adults to take care of their planet. I felt like there was a lot of information scrambled around and I kept wondering if I had read it all so I would scan back over just to see if I had.

My Reaction
I enjoyed reading about so many different children. I wish there could have been more of a story for each one rather than just random facts. I would like to see a new version made every twenty or so years to see how styles change in each part of the world, particularly in dress. I was amazed at how extremely different some lifestyles were from my own.