November 1, 2013
Gr 3-5-With a format that combines large, bright photos and brief text, these books provide basic introductions to world countries. Each titles opens with maps that locate the country and its most important cities and then touches on its history and flag, geography, economy, culture, most famous people, and more. "Tour Book" sections suggest places to visit and things to do and "Up Close" pages list basic facts. The attractive, well-captioned photos are the strongest elements of the set, but don't fully compensate for the text that is limited to only a few sentences per page. Overgeneralization, superficial coverage, and an annoying overuse of exclamation points will further limit this set's usefulness to report writers; it should be considered as an additional purchase where picture-heavy books to aid developing readers are in demand.
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