Maria de Fatima Campos

This entire series presents beautifully illustrated (photographic) overviews of the cultural realities of modern day life in the country named in the title. Each volume contains an "author's note" giving an introduction to the country in question, then for each letter, A-Z, there is a brief paragraph describing some aspect of the culture. Fascinating content. Great jumping-off points for further reading and research on the country. Great for seeding the imagination with concrete images of real people, to help make map-studies come alive, and to help inspire travel planning. Nothing at all even remotely violent or dramatic, either emotionally, socially, or physically, so a very safe choice for highly sensitive young readers (like my sensitive just-turned-4-year-old son). Highly recommended. I only wish they had more countries in the series.… (mehr)

Personal Response: I thought the book was very well written. I think it is important to expose children to the differences and similarities of people who come from different places and speak different languages. I liked how it tied in the facts about Brazil with the events in the book and had photographs to grab a child's attention and show what life really looks like in Brazil. This book would be good for a multicultural lesson and could lead to kids writing their own book about their daily life.… (mehr)