El Salvador: The Land. Philippines: The Land. Vietnam: The Land – NICKLES (CSS)

NICKLES, Greg. El Salvador: The Land. Crabtree Publishing: New York, St. Catherines, ON, Oxford, 2002. 32p. NICKLES, Greg. Philippines: The Land. Crabtree Publishing: New York, St. Catherines, ON, Oxford, 2002. 32p. KALMAN, Bobbi. Vietnam: The Land (Revised Ed.). Crabtree Publishing: New York, St. Catherines, ON, Oxford, 2002. Pp. 32p. LIOR, Noa; STEELE, Tara. Spain: New York: The Land. Crabtree Publishing; St. Catherines, ON, Oxford, 2002. 32p. Resenha de: DARLING, Linda Farr. Canadian Social Studies, v.38, n.2, p., 2004.

What do elementary students and their teachers want to discover in a geography book? We could start with engaging and authoritative descriptions of places, stunning photography of landscapes and human activity, and a sensitive portrayal of what makes the cultures of a country unique and dynamic. In the four books I examined in this new geography series for young students-The Land, Peoples, and Cultures Series which includes twenty-two titles to date-vibrant pictures, straightforward text, and a well-organized layout introduce the natural features and resources, the industries and architectures, and the past events and pastimes that shape the diverse countries of El Salvador, Vietnam, Spain, and the Philippines. All four books have been produced with a keen eye for colour, design and sensible layout in an 8 by 11 inch format. The contents of each volume cover a lot of ground in about thirty pages, so understandably we see a few slices of life, and not a great amount of detail. I was pleased to see that modern urban areas are represented alongside more traditional rural communities, and that an appealing mix of photographs includes children at play as well as loaded ships at port (a staple it seems in geographical archives). Each book begins with a ‘facts at a glance’ box and ends with a brief index (very helpful) and glossary with brief definitions (not as helpful). Leia Mais