Clothes in Many Cultures

Children's Literature

This nonfiction title, designed for first graders, presents the varied clothing worn by people around the world. The book includes the exotic and the colorful as well as the common, but defies expectation and avoids stereotyping. For example, the parka-clad people in a photo of the frozen north are identified as Americans from the United States rather than as Eskimos from Alaska, and the example of a business suit is a jacket and skirt worn by a woman on an escalator in China. The chapters organize clothing types based on weather, function, and tradition. The author explains that traditional clothing, like the kilt, is worn on ceremonial occasions. In this way, Adamson puts cultural practices into a context that first graders can understand (e.g., a wedding). She also relates clothing to climate and function. Thus, the author avoids exoticizing non-Western clothing or presenting people from non-Western cultures as “Other.” This book is one in the “Life around the World” series. Books in this series are organized by chapters and contain a table of contents, a glossary, a reference list that includes safe web sites, maps, and an index. Although brief books designed for first graders, these books can be used as part of an introduction to reference books. Reviewer: Christina M. Desai