It's Cool to Learn about Countries: India

School Library Journal

Gr 4–6—These somewhat cluttered books provide basic information about the country's geography, culture, history, government, sports, economy, and food. The brief chapters are formatted as pseudo-scrapbooks. Language is informal yet stilted, often directly addressing readers as "social studies explorers." The information is accurate, and Pakistan does an especially good job at describing the poverty and poor working conditions of many Pakistanis. The maps are very basic and inconsistent in format—in India, only the capital city is marked, while Bangladesh has three prominent cities shown but not identified. The Pakistan map only shows the capital, but the country is divided into states. All three books have activities (crafts, recipes, math, etc.), all of which have clear instructions. However, the format could be problematic for libraries as most activities are forms, complete with a picture of a pen. A large "STOP! Don't write in this book!" is all that might prevent a child from filling them out. The bibliographies contain current books, and most of the websites are accurate and kid-friendly. These titles are similar to those in the "Welcome to My Country" series (Marshall Cavendish), but are not as cleanly formatted.—Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI