Synopsis
An introduction to the geography, history, plant and animal life, and social life and customs of Afghanistan.
Sharon Oliver - Children's Literature
This very short introduction to the country of Afghanistan is lacking in almost every way. The book covers the basics: geography, history, plant and animal life, and social life and customs of the people of Afghanistan. Each section covers a one to two-page spread with a multitude of photographs. The type is large with a lot of white space, which does make the book easily readable. However, much of the information is sparse and limited by the small amount of space devoted to the text. For example, it is explained that most people in Afghanistan practice one of two types of Islam, but no explanation is given of the differences or similarities between them. Many of the pictures lack any kind of educational or informative value. A quarter-page color photograph of trees lining a dirt road is captioned, "Poplar trees line a dirt road," while a photo of a man drinking tea is similarly captioned, "A man drinking tea at a hotel in Qandahar." These photographs do little to provide information or even an interesting glimpse into Afghani life. The layout is appealing, with movie-ticket graphics for chapter headings, postage stamp graphics for photo captions and some very nice maps, but that fails to make up for the lack of substantive information. A page of Afghanistan trivia, country facts and index are all provided. Also included is a glossary that seems to be lacking standard phonetic spellings. 2003, The Child's World,
Editorials
Children's Literature
This very short introduction to the country of Afghanistan is lacking in almost every way. The book covers the basics: geography, history, plant and animal life, and social life and customs of the people of Afghanistan. Each section covers a one to two-page spread with a multitude of photographs. The type is large with a lot of white space, which does make the book easily readable. However, much of the information is sparse and limited by the small amount of space devoted to the text. For example, it is explained that most people in Afghanistan practice one of two types of Islam, but no explanation is given of the differences or similarities between them. Many of the pictures lack any kind of educational or informative value. A quarter-page color photograph of trees lining a dirt road is captioned, "Poplar trees line a dirt road," while a photo of a man drinking tea is similarly captioned, "A man drinking tea at a hotel in Qandahar." These photographs do little to provide information or even an interesting glimpse into Afghani life. The layout is appealing, with movie-ticket graphics for chapter headings, postage stamp graphics for photo captions and some very nice maps, but that fails to make up for the lack of substantive information. A page of Afghanistan trivia, country facts and index are all provided. Also included is a glossary that seems to be lacking standard phonetic spellings. 2003, The Child's World,— Sharon Oliver