Rice Is Life

I bought this book for a class study of Japan. It is actually set in Bali but is a great story about how rice grows. It is especially enlightening for those of us who have no personal knowledge of this process which many of the world's people would consider so common. The book also teaches about the entire ecosystem that has grow up around the rice production (animals, insects, etc) and it is all done as a beautiful rhyming timeline with a factual explanations on each opposite page. I will use this book every year in class.

I love this book. The artwork is colorful and simple, a pleasing combination for the eye. Not cutesy or too complicated And the story is poignant and accurately told. As the author spent a good deal of time traveling the Bali countryside, she comes to the writing with a real story to tell of the people there. It's a great look at the circle of life in a rice-driven society. The best thing is the combination of poetry on the left pages and nonfiction prose on the right- what a great combination for kids. I highly recommend it!