Jane E. Hoffelt

Overall, I found this to be a good book and a great addition to an early elementary classroom library. The first thing that I enjoyed about this book was how the story includes a great amount of diversity. Throughout the story, the boy takes the reader to places like Iraq, Peru, and Costa Rica. However, the reader begins to realize that even though we don’t live in these places, we still share a lot in common. The second thing I enjoyed was the illustrators’ style. Each illustration was well done and showed an image of the landscape of whatever country was being discussed but more importantly I enjoyed how for each country he included a small map of the country in one of the top corners. I just felt that this is a great measure to add for young readers who don’t know much or anything about these countries being shown. The third thing I enjoyed was the authors’ diction. Throughout the story the author uses a lot of descriptive words which can also be helpful to young readers as they are expanding their vocabulary. For instance, when discussing Algeria, the author wrote, “Day and night we breathe the air.” Or, when discussing China, the author wrote, “By the shore we hear the waves.” In the end I felt this book was to show the reader that even though there are many different places throughout the world, we share a lot in common and that we should live in peace.… (meer)