Spain

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5-Brief overviews that cover such topics as "The Land," "Plants and Animals," "Long Ago," "City Life and Country Life," "Schools and Language," "Work," "Food," "Pastimes," and "Holidays." The brevity leads to some generalizations: "Australia is known for its...bright sunshine, its strange animals, and its happy people," "Spanish people love seafood," and "South Koreans love to have fun." While the postage-stamp shaped captions give a cluttered but colorful look to the layout, they are somewhat distracting. The actual pictures, which cover three-fourths of each double-page spread, vary in quality but do help to extend the limited text. The glossaries list words that have already been adequately explained within. Overall, these titles are serviceable introductions, but the "True Book" series (Children's) remains the standard for factual information for this audience.-Eunice Weech, M. L. King Elementary School, Urbana, IL Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.