World Turns Round and Round, The

Nicki Weiss is the author-artist of many popular picture books, including Where Does the Brown Bear Go? and If You're Happy and You Know It. After many years of creating picture books, she decided to become an elementary school teacher. She received her master's degree from Bank Street College of Education and now teaches reading and art in a public school in New York City's East Village.

PreSchool-Grade 2-"What was sent to the brown-eyed boy/From his abuela in Mexico?/From Tapalpa came a sombrero of straw./Oh, he never saw/Such a sombrero of straw/From rural Mexico." So begins this charming book that describes various items of clothing sent from relatives around the world to the children in one class. An aunt in Colorado sends cowboy boots, a babushka in Russia sends a little furry hat, a mjomba in Kenya sends a dashiki, and a chachi in India sends a sari. Weiss's cheerful, colored-pencil drawings accompany the verses for each child. On one left-hand page, for example, the Haitian tante carries a box across a sandy beach. Small Haitian stamps decorate the edges of the picture. Facing this illustration is a drawing of a young girl proudly wearing her new "chemise aux fleurs." The final scene shows all of the classmates modeling their gifts and looking at a globe. The repetitive question-and-answer verse and chorus of "the world turns round and round" make this a natural choice for reading aloud. Helpful aids include a map and a small glossary with pronunciations. Pair this fine introduction to world cultures with Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley's Children Just Like Me (DK, 1995) for a unit on geography, language arts, or cultural heritage.
Bina Williams, Bridgeport Public Library, CT
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