Children Just Like Me: Celebrations!

I bought this book recently to supplement my primary schooler's global cultures education. Something I did not note before purchase was the publishing date of 1995. Many of the pictures are in fact outdated now. But my chief complaint is that the buyer understand as I did not- this is not an atlas-accurate depiction of children by percent population in each country; it is actually more a compilation of minority cultures. The example children from the United States reveals this. For example, p. 6-7 show sample kids from several countries, some with typical appearances and names for their country like Yannis from Greece, Guo Shuang from China etc, but the US shows five children: two which appear hispanic (Nicole and Carlos), one eskimo, one unusual-looking chunky caucasian girl and one African American male with a seriously outdated hairdo and parachute pants. On the Americas page there is an entire line up of children, 24 in all, and only two caucasian kids in the whole line-up, which is a little odd. There are two eskimo children given two whole pages from the US and Canada (no other children from Canada- apparently they are all Inuit), where other countries with proportionately way more children like China do not get that much coverage. I unfortunately cannot tell if the children from the other countries are represented correctly, but the US is over-represented in general, as all the other countries have only 1 or 2 children. Tbe publishers should have left out so many extraneous US children, two children of ANY race would've been sufficient. I guess Australia's in the same boat as Canada as the only child represented is Aborigine, which is great to learn about, but not entirely a fair depiction of the continent. Oh well. The idea for the book is really cute, and the book is published with UNICEF, and when the subtitle says "a unique celebration of children around the world" they really mean it. Since this book functions similar to an atlas, it's a bit outdated,as mentioned. Each page includes a picture of the child, their home, food, family, school, favorite toy, friends, signature etc. Countries included: Canada, US (5x), France, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Japan, China, Mongolia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, India (2x), Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia, Botswana, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil.

This book is a collection of children around the world and is a wonderfull way to introduce your children to how people live around the world. Children of many different religious, finantial(very poor to quite wealthy), and ethnic backgrounds are given introduction within.
You and your kids will meet children like Carlitos, a boy who lives on an Argintine ranch in a three bedroom house and rides horses and drinks Mate tea. -- Or Suchart, from Thiland, a 12 year old budhist monk in training who lives in a small hut on stilts, has no toys, and starts his day begging for alms in his small village. He likes the cats who live in the temple, and is always losing his sandals because he has to take them off before he goes into the temple and forgets where he left them. -- And Thi Lien, in Vietnam who wears beautiful batik died traditional clothes made by her mother, helps feed the families chickens and harvest rice, and collects firewood. -- And Celina, who lives in the the store Rain Forrest of Brazil in a mud brick two room hut. She likes to paint herself with die made from a local root every day, and has never worn shoes. She likes to take the canoe out on the river her family lives near.
There is information about each child's favorite activities, what they eat, what they wear, pictures of thier home, family members, religious practices, and special things about thier cultures. This book has many children from Australia, Africa, The Americas, The Philipenes, Europe, Asia, India, and more. I have enjoyed looking at all the childred in this book and reading about how they live. Even though it's for children, anyone can enjoy this book. I only wish it had more children to meet. This book shows how children and people everywhere have the same thoughts, and fun, even though they may live in vastly different conditions.

My daughter loved this book from the time she was about 2 years old until she was about 10. It was always one of our favorite books to read. I think the information she learned is knowledge she has been able to build on. This book is a great introduction to social studies and geography because it's easy for kids to connect to on a personal level and as they learn about other countries and cultures later it gives them some memorable points of reference. It's visually interesting enough to hold the attention of very young children. The information is presented in small chunks, so it's easy for early readers. It's also interesting to children who a little older and to parents who are reading along. I have bought several copies and given them to my church, to teachers, and to other kids as Christmas presents. I also recommend other DK books with a similar format.

Cute, good book! Very lengthy book too. This is not a book just sit down and go through the whole thing in one sitting, which I like. It is a little outdated in the attire the children are wearing, but that doesn't bother me. I like how it follows different children and their families across the globe, as well as giving generalized information too. I'd read before purchasing that some people were offended by the portrayal of American children, but I don't see the problem here. America is very ethnic, and this book gives a good account of American children from different regions of the country.

This book is a can't-put-down fascinating collection of information about children and their cultures all over the world. I've read it to my first three children and found it to be very interesting myself! Now I assign it as a home school subject to my younger children for part of their culture studies. (Reading about one child each week.) Because it is so fascinating, they usually read it and study the pictures and are amazed at how each child lives so differently, and have different beliefs. It includes pictures of how they write their name, what their home and family look like, and what they eat. Very well done... I highly recommend. It is one book I would buy a replacement for, if needed!

Celebrations! was published in association with UNICEF. The book provides a multicultural look at children's celebrations, both secular and religious, from eighteen countries around the world. This is a well written and engaging book for introducing children to different cultures.

This is a truly marvelous piece of work featuring so many different children from so many different parts of The Blue Planet! Those young folks all present a very insightful slice of their lives in such an amazing diversity of cultures that will really open the eyes of a typical kid here in America and everywhere else. Then he and she will learn that not all kids come in a similar package and that "the small world" is not really at all small in its great variety of human beings and their ways of life. So let all those wonderful kids take you on an eye-feasting tour 'round the whole globe!

Wonderful book of cultural diversity for children. Worth having in any classroom for grades one through three. Good investment for children at home. There are enough pictures and information in this book to capture children's attention and keep them focused. Recommended book for character education, molding children's thinking to be tolerant of people from other countries and to accept foreign cultures.

This book is about knowing the people you live with. It has pictures and information about people from all over the world, their personality and the things those people like. This book is good because you can make more friends because it shows what the people in different countries like. I recommend this book for people that are making school projects about people's lives and is good for people in international schools.

Another in the excellent series of DK's partnership with the U.N. -- an amazing trip around the world to view different holidays through children's eyes. The emphasis is on celebrations that center around children or where children play a big role, and the book tries to give a broad cross-section of countries, peoples and cultures/faiths (no book can be all-inclusive).

Keeps an excellent balance between pictures and text -- the pictures are colorful, fascinating and detailed, the text is informative. This should be back in print!

Great job by the Kindersleys!

This book, Celebrations!, is a sequel to Children Just Like Me. This book explains about holidays celebrated by children all over the world. The book focuses on the holidays, but interviews a child that celebrates them. The child explains in the book how, when, where, and why his or her family celebrates that particular holiday. I think this book is very interesting, especially for a person who wants to learn more about another culture's celebrations.

My daughters (aged 5 and 7) have loved this book - it has led to long discussions about geography, culture and the ways in which people live. We have written stories about the children in the pictures,and pored over the globe. This book has depth and is an invaluable way of deepening children's engagement and interest in other cultures. We did smile over some minor inaccuracies in the NZ page (not many children in NZ live with their gradnparents!) - but do not hesitate to buy this book for your children and grandchildren. And be prepared for hours of discussion and engagement!

This exceptional book of excellent photography and educational text provides a personal look at children from around the world. A wonderful book to read with your children over and over again. They'll learn about customs, food, locale, etc. -- and so will you. Buy several and give them as enlightening gifts!-B. Silverstein

This is a very interesting book, with wonderful pictures and lots of joy. It's a book that makes you happy. Many of the celebrations were unknown to me, and it was fun to see that the Swedish celebration of St. Lucia is described correctly in the book (I'm Swedish).

The only doubtful thing about this book is that the mix of different religions isn't very good. Most celebrations are Christian or Hindu - only one is Muslim and none is purely Buddhist. That's a bit of a pity. Anyway, great book.

My children received this as a Christmas gift, and it is a really nice book. Great for elementary aged school children, particularly appropriate for a holiday gift, because we can read together about other celebrations while we are celebrating. It is a book that we have put with our special holiday books that we read at Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, etc.

I hope that all children can someday enjoy this book with their friends and caring adults. It makes real the lives of children all around the world - their hopes, their dreams, their families and their daily routines. It's a delight to see our similarities and a great lesson to learn about our differences. Thank you to the authors and publishers.

My elementary-aged children received this book as a gift, and it became a favorite. It's a really beautifully illustrated and written book, and interests the children in other cultures because its written about what other children their age would be doing, playing, etc., in other countries. It makes a wonderful addition to a home library.

This is a wonderful book with personal stories around the world from children and the holidays they celebrate. Perfect for the entire year. The photographs are captivating that even my 2 year old loves to sit and listen. Worth every penny.

A visually-rich companion peice to this wonderful kid-friendly introduction to world politics and cultures is "For a Better World: Posters from the United Nations" by Edward Marks. More than half the posters feature the worlds' children and the plights they face, each in an artistic creation that inspires hope. What better way to educate children that "no human is an island"?