Japan

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3For the same audience as the "Take a Trip to" series (Watts), these books provide piecemeal glimpses of three countries, using a postcard motif to show readers points of interest. They give youngsters just a flavor of each nation, and the friendly print size and brief sentences make them accessible to beginning readers. Each double-page spread features a full-color photograph on the left and a brief message from a child to a friend on the right. A few sentences describe what is pictured; postscripts add more information supplied by "Dad" or "Mom.'' The author introduces such subjects as industry, agriculture, customs, clothing, recreation, geographic features, transportation, and food. Some statements are very vague, e.g., "Dad says that fewer people live in South Africa than in the United States." Each title includes a simple map showing some principal cities and an inset showing the country on a world map. All three texts end with the flag and a few political details. The postcard motif somewhat ameliorates the choppiness that's inevitable when trying to present so much information so briefly. The photos, which vary in quality from outstanding to adequate, suffer from being placed in such a small format.Louise L. Sherman, Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ