Kazakhstan

I am blessed to be the great-aunt of two boys adopted from Kazakhstan nearly eight years ago. The boys are now in 2nd and 3rd grade and our family encourages interest in their country of birth, so I have purchased this book along with others listed below to have in our "family" library. A similar book was expensive, even used, $22 + $4 S/H: "Kazahstan In Pictures", ISBN 0-8225-6588-9. Other than the website, which anyone can access for free: www.vgsbooks.com, "Kazahstan In Pictures" is not nearly as good, nor does it have as many pictures as "Kazakhstan" by Cheng, Pang Guek, published 2001, used price + S/H, $5.45. A third book with nearly identical information is: "Kazakhstan", by Zoran Pavlovic, 2003, ISBN 0-7910-7231-2. All three books offer almost identical information/pictures. The Cheng book is the best of the three. The website of www.vgsbooks.com can be used to supplement for more current information. Two more books of Kazakh traditional folktales which will be of much more interest to the kids have been ordered (used), but not yet received: "Stories of the Steppes" Kazakh folktales, by Mary Lou Masey, 1968, Publisher: McKay. (try ABE.com if you cannot find it) "Tales Told In Tents" (Hardcover, 2005) ISBN-10 : 1845070666. Neither book has been received yet, but reviews indicate they are both very good. It is difficult to find quality information on Kazakhstan, but hopefully this will help out others! I hope the two boys and their little sister enjoy them as much as I have.

Our local library purchased this book as a resource after our family adopted from Kazakhstan and requested information about the country. We were so excited to find that this was really a very good book to give solid background information about the country. We traveled a second time to Kazakhstan to adopt another child and checked this book out several times for our 4 year old so that he could have a better idea what he would be seeing when we arrived in Kazakhstan. I read it myself a couple of times and found that I learned a lot of the basics about the country that I had not been able to learn elsewhere. Nice photos, easy to understand and written in such a way as it is not overly simplified so adults don't feel insulted reading it.

We first checked this out from our local library and had to have a copy of our own. The book was classified as "Junior", but it is an excellent overview for adults also.