Wake Up, World!

My children and I love this book! My only complaint is that it is not long enough. We humbly suggest book two!We use this in our homeschool, and find the lives of children around the world very fascinating. We get a peek into the lives of 8 different children, how they wake up, eat, play, go to school, etc. I was looking for something along the lines of "Children just like me", and finding nothing, settled on this book. I wish the stories were a bit longer, but the pictures are bright and fresh and very appealing.Enjoy!

This is a wonderful, optimistic book to introduce the world andseveral of its diverse cultures to children in terms that they canunderstand: the lives of children like them! It introduces them to other children in 8 countries and takes readers through a day in the life of these children. The concept that children might have no toys, or that a girl may have only one shirt and one skirt, was very foreign to my children, but the book presents the realities of these cultures without any condescending tone. Instead it makes the lives of each child seem intriguing. The 8 children come from Brazil, Vietnam, Ghana, India, USA, Australia, England, and Russia. My only criticism is the omission of any children from Spanish speaking countries. I think the book would have been even more interesting with fewer "western" countries, since the children from USA, Australia, and England had such similar lifestyles, and more "other" countries. I would have especially liked to seen a Middle Eastern culture presented, and China, Japan, and at LEAST one spanish speaking country in Central, South or North America. Coming from the viewpoint of an American reader, with so many people in modern day USA from spanish speaking descent, it seemed an ominous omission. But maybe that can be book two in the series! I hope so. This book is a good start to introducing culture, geography, and most importantly, an appreciation that through all our differences, people are the same the world over. I highly recommend it!