Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I See The Sun In China Book Review...

Thanks to Satya House Publications, we recently had the chance to review the new children's book, I See the Sun in China:





I See the Sun in China
Written by Dedrie King, Illustrated by Judith Inglese
40 pages
Bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese
For children 5 and up
ISBN: 978-0-9818720-5-6
$12.95
Pub Date: October 1st, 2010
Published by: Satya House Publications


About I See the Sun in China:
"I See the Sun in China received a 2010 PREFERRED CHOICE AWARD -- Books for Kids category -- from the Creative Child Awards Program, Creative Child magazine. Although more and more children today are exposed -- via the Internet and television -- to how people live in various parts of the world, it is important that from a very young age children learn that not everyone lives the way they do. In I See the Sun in China, readers follow a young girl as she travels from a small town in China to the city of Shanghai to spend time with her aunt. After waking and watching her grandfather do his Tai Chi, she eats her congee before leaving for the ferry. Her day in Shanghai with Auntie includes lunch, shopping, tea in the park, supper in a restaurant, and contemplation about her day as she goes to sleep. The text is shown in both English and Mandarin Chinese. Also available in the I See the Sun Series is I See the Sun in Nepal. In this book readers follow a young girl as she spends the day in her village. After waking, her Ama makes her breakfast of chiura and tea. Following her chores, she goes to school and has a some time with her friends before going home to do chores before supper and finally to bed. The text is shown in both English and Nepalese. Both books are beautifully illustrated by Judith Inglese with warm, engaging collages made from photographs, paper cut-outs, and drawings. Unfamiliar words are explained in each book's glossary. Each book also includes a brief description of the country then and now. These are the first two titles in the I See the Sun Series. Each book in the series follows events that take place from dawn until night over the course of one day in a different country. The story in each book is simple, yet accurately reflects the culture as seen through a child's eyes. Children will be able to recognize the similarities as well as the differences between their own daily life and the culture of another place. Seeing the story written in another language also opens children's eyes to the many forms words have. The I See the Sun Series is one more way to help children become familiar with other ways of life around the world. The next titles in the series will be I See the Sun in Afghanistan (Spring 2011), followed by I See the Sun in India and I See the Sun in Russia."


What we thought: The kid's really enjoyed this book. I especially liked that it exposed them to a different culture and the glossary in the back was awesome! It was neat to go through the day of a Chinese child with the kiddos and we had a lot of fun comparing the things the little girl did with the things we do...talking about the differences and the similarities of our lives. It was also pretty cool to see pictures of what a child in China sees everyday. As adults, we sometimes get swept up in our own lives and forget that everybody, everywhere doesn't do everything the way we do, but the bottom line is we all have a lot in common. I am really happy we had the opportunity to open our little one's eyes to a different culture and I can't wait to read the next book in this awesome series! ABCD Diaries gives I See the Sun in China an A+!

Buy It: Find this awesome new line of children's books at your local book seller or online book dealer.


Disclosure: ABCD Diaries was given a sampler of Peeled Snacks for review purposes only. We were in no other way compensated. The opinions expressed in this post are ours and ours alone.

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