Brazil

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-A quick look at the geography, history, culture, people, and contemporary life of this South American country. Each two-page chapter briefly covers a different aspect of one of these topics such as the Amazon, food, language, religion, school, and Carnaval. The book has the same organization and most of the same full-color photographs, drawings, and sidebars as in the author's Brazil (Carolrhoda, 1998), in the "Globe-trotters Club" series, which is written on a slightly higher reading level. The chapters in that book mirror those in this one: "A Land of Contrast" becomes "Rich and Poor" here, and so on. While the generalizations evident in the earlier title have been toned down, they still exist ("Brazilian adults are glued to their TVs when a novela is on") along with some oversimplification ("Brazil has very rich people and many poor people"). Stick with the "A True Book" series (Children's) for country studies.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal