Vanishing Cultures: Sahara

Economic development, technological growth, and environmental degradation have affected the lives of all people on this planet. Yet modernization has changed the way of life more slowly across generations for some people. In this outstanding book series, Jan Reynolds offers readers a fascinating glimpse into several such societies and describes how families meet their subsistence needs, practice their beliefs, interact in their communities, and live in the elements. To effectively communicate some fairly sophisticated lessons to younger children, the clear narratives each focus on a particular family, and the vivid photographs capture a wealth of interesting information about their activities, clothes, food, and surroundings. Seeing a young aborigines boy pulling an enormous carpet snake out of a log and reading about how the Inuit people survived on a diet consisting only of caribou meat and fat are just a few of the unique experiences that reading this book series will entail. The series has seven books. This book, Sahara, explores the way of life for the Tuareg in the middle of Africa's Sahara Desert.

As a teacher, I scour bookstores looking for books on a level that 3rd graders can understand. This series gives the children a clear look at family interaction, customs and unique facets of their lives. I use all of the Vanishing Culture books when teaching about a particular continent.