France

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4These series titles provide basic information ranging from essential facts about geography to short commentaries on sports and the arts. Sketches of an urban and rural family add to each book's appeal. Vivid, full-color photographs illustrate the texts and glossaries explain highlighted words. France receives the upbeat treatment expected in books intended to spark children's interest in other countries and has good, easy-to-read information. Russia, however, often focuses on the negative and has numerous false statements. It is not true, for instance, that "Communist Russia was made up of more than 100 countries" or that "Russia did not export much at all before 1991." More examples could be cited. At times a critical attitude is carried over into the captions. The comment on a new shopping center is "Only wealthy people, like the woman here, can afford to buy things in these stores." The same can be said of exclusive stores in any country. The caption for a photo of an attractive older apartment building where the Moscow family lives on the top floor points out that there is no elevator. There are similar apartment buildings in Paris without elevators, yet they were not noted in France. Why the difference in the treatment of these two countries?Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign