Pakistan

Children's Literature

This book is part of the publisher's "Country File" series. Using brief chapters each spanning a two-page spread, the book presents facts about the country, combined with color photographs and informational backmatter. In addition, text on geography, climate, population, economy, government, and development are augmented by informational sidebars, maps, graphs, pie-charts and tables. An effort has been made to include a variety of landscapes in the photographs, representing rural and urban areas, and a variety of peoples and occupations. A timeline explicating the ancient and contemporary history of Pakistan tidily handles the dilemma many such books face, of how to present the complex pre- and post-independence history of this nation in a manner accessible to young readers. This is particularly useful because it includes information (e.g., the building of the world's first planned city in Mohenjodaro in 4,000 BC) that relates to a larger world history, yet is not common knowledge in American elementary education. Backmatter includes a page of physical geography facts, information on currency and the flag, languages, major resources and exports, national holidays, and religions. A glossary and index are also included. 2004, Franklin Watts, Ages 8 to 12.
—Uma Krishnaswami

Children's Literature - Lesley Moore Vossen

This book is part of the "Facts about Countries" series, which provides elementary school students with an overview of the people, culture, history, and geography of countries around the world. Like the other books in this series, each chapter spans two pages and contains color photos, sidebars, boxes containing websites for further research, and many, many pie and bar charts. There is a large topographic map at the beginning of the book and some smaller ones throughout. The photos seem particularly nice in this book, as compared to others in the series. This reviewer liked the two that accompany the chapter on "Arts and Media," one a sixteenth century painting showing men building a new palace and sculptors carving elephants and the other the front of a movie theater in Karachi with giant pictures of stars of the cinema. It is puzzling, however, to understand why some photos were chosen. For example, in the chapter, "Sports and Leisure," there is a sidebar explaining the sport of kabaddi, but the photo next to it shows children playing volleyball. Key words are defined in the back of the book, and a page with further facts and figures such as the highest mountain and the national holidays is included. Like others in the series, this is a book designed for students around the third grade level who are writing a report on the country. There are many facts and figures for students to choose from for a report. The facts include tidbits of information about the culture, and the figures contain details such as the total length of Pakistan's main road and rail networks. Given the amount of news about Pakistan that appears on television these days, this seems like a particularly useful bookfor young students who may have read little about this part of the world. Reviewer: Lesley Moore Vossen