Communities

Children's Literature - Joella Peterson

What is a community? Who lives in a community? How does a community work? These are all questions that are answered in this addition to the "People" series. Schuette explains in simple terms on a single two-page spread that "[a] community is a group of people who live in the same area. Communities can be big or small. A neighborhood, town, or city can be a community." Not only does she use simple sentences, but she repeats the word "community" (or the plural "communities") to help beginning readers learn the new, larger word in all of its forms. In addition to simple sentence structures, there are also color photographs on each page. These photographs show various people in communities—from adults walking down the street to a child visiting the doctor. There is also a good mix of various cultures in all of the photographs, allowing all different kinds of readers to relate to the subject matter. With a word count of eighty-nine words, this is a good book for those children who are learning to read. Reviewer: Joella Peterson