About People and Places in Our World
   
A World of Reading
The genre, places around the world, deals primarily with introducing young children to the many countries on our planet.  They are introduced to the different climates, landscapes, customs, and cultures that are found world-wide.
QCC's
Language Arts Oral Language
5 Topic: Listening/Speaking
Standard: Interprets the meaning of questions in order to give an appropriate response.

Language Arts Oral Language
7  Topic: Listening/Speaking
Standard: Communicates effectively when using descriptive language, relating experiences, and retelling stories read, heard, or viewed.

Social Studies
9  Topic: Physical Characteristics of Place Landforms; Bodies of Water
Standard: Describes and creates models that identifies characteristics of landforms (e.g., continents, peninsulas, islands, others) and bodies of water (e.g., lakes, ocean, rivers, others) of the Earth



Book 1:
Pre-k/Kindergarten
Mandy Forrest
Our Earth
Written and Illustrated by:
Anne Rockwell

1.  Have you ever wondered about the planet we live on?
2.  What would you expect to find in a hot desert? in the deep ocean? in the steamy rain forest?  in the snowy mountains?

About the Book
 Dive beneath the oceans and soar above the clouds in this exploration of Earth that makes a pleasing introduction to basic earth-science concepts. Full color.


Anne Rockwell    Anne Rockwell grew up knowing what she wanted to do -- draw and write.  She had the good fortune to be part of the "Golden Age" of children's books--the 1950s and 60s. Her artistic interests leaned toward painting and sculpting. Listening to kids and understanding what they like about books has been one of the keys to her success. She also had a husband who was a better illustrator than she was, so she became the writer. At that time there was not much nonfiction for young kids and most editors believed that nonfiction should not be published for 3-year-olds-it was supposed to be for 8-year-olds and above. Anne believes kids don't really distinguish between fiction and nonfiction. Nonfiction is a tool for finding one's way in the world. A child reads the entire picture whereas an adult looks at the color, line, etc. and often misses the message that the picture is conveying. Pictures are an integral part of the message in books for young kids. For this reason, Anne believed that it was important for her to also create the art: otherwise it felt like she was just writing half a sentence. A physical injury however, limited what she was able to do with her art, so the writer in her has come out, but she continues to try very hard to write nonfiction with color.
  Contributor: Marilyn Courtot



Book 2:
First/Second Grade
Angie Reinhardt
On the Same Day in March
A Tour of the World's Weather
by Marilyn Singer
Illustrated by Frane Lessac
1.  Do you know what a country is?
2.  Have you ever traveled to a different country?


This story takes us on a tour around the world. On our tour we discovery that many things happen in different places around the world, all on the same day.




This book is very useful in helping children understand that many things happen at the very same time around the world.  The author, Marilyn Singer, taught English for several years.  She wrote her first book while sitting in a garden. 
Click here for more information about the author.


Book 3:
Third/Fourth Grade
Randi Pellitteri
If the World were a Village
By: David J. Smith



Questions

1.  What is your reaction to the problem in the book?
2.  Come up with your own solution to the problem in the story.

About the Author:
            David J. Smith is the award winning author of the fantastic children's book If the World Were a Village.  David has more than 25 years of classroom experience as a geography teacher.   This book is important to children  because it helps them understand the problem of overpopulation in our world and the many issues that go along with it.

In the book, If the World Were a Village, David J. Smith makes understanding the world's population slightly easier by taking the 6.2 billion people and reducing them to a village of just 100 people.  Each person represents 62 million people.  Then, he conveys statistics on topics such as nationalities, languages, and ages by saying how many of the 100 people fit that statistic.




Book 4:
Fourth/Fifth Grade
Karen Dasher
"My World"
 By  Ira Wolfman
 Illustrated by Paul Meisel

Questions to think about:
    1. Have you ever seen a globe? 
    2. Can you tell the land from             the oceans? How?
    3. Have you ever been to                 another country?
    4. What was it like?


This book is an interactive first book of geography designed by the author to get elementary students interested in the world and to teach students about our planet and all of its wonderful places.


Ira Wolfman was the editor-in-chief of Sesame Street magazines for seven years.  He now owns POE Communications which is a company that is involved in creating educational and child-development material.   Paul Meisel is the illustrator of many popular children's books.  He illustrated "What is the World Made Of?" and "Let's -Read-and-Find-Out" science books.

     "My World" demonstrates how maps and globes work in reference to scale, direction, map keys and symbols, as well as, showing how the earth rotates on an axis that affects our days, seasons, and even the climate for each part of the earth. The book also tells students about the seven continents and gives an overview of their physical differences and a few interesting facts about each one.