Maya Ajmera, Elise Hofer Derstine, and Cynthia Pon,
What We Wear: Dressing Up Around the World
A Global Fund for Children Book/Charlesbridge, 2012.
Ages: 4-7
Dressing up means something a little different to everyone, but for children dressing up is always important. It might mean trying on a parent’s clothes in the back of a closet, putting on a costume for a performance or holiday, painting your face, playing pretend, or wearing a team uniform for a big game. No matter where, dressing up is special, but the details of dressing up differ considerably depending on the traditions of one’s culture.
Though the outfits vary greatly from place to place, the reasons for dressing up unite us all. This richly photographed book of smiling children from around the world dressing up in every imaginable way will open windows onto other cultures for children everywhere. Whether vibrant beads on the head, neck, and shoulders of a Kenyan child or identical navy blue baseball caps on a Japanese team, it is clear that children everywhere delight in dressing up, whatever the occasion. Captions accompanying the photos suggest the different reasons people wear special clothing and where to find people wearing such garments: folk festivals, cultural events, religious rituals and even school. A world map highlights the countries the photographed children call home, underscoring the point that dressing up is universal.
Children will recognize the familiar in these pages and will also be delighted to see their counterparts in other countries dressed so differently. The pictures are likely to inspire a sense of wonder that may lead young children to think about what they share and how they differ from people of other cultures. The authors also make suggestions for learning more about dressing up all over the world such as going to museums, making masks and costumes on your own, and visiting cultural institutions and festivals.
Expressing one’s self and experiencing one’s culture through clothing is an important part of developing self-identity. This makes What We Wear a perfect book to have on the shelves of a pre-school or primary grade library, inspiring kids to see themselves and children everywhere as part of a global community.
Abigail Sawyer
November 2012
It is common knowledge that children who attend school have a better chance of developing into their full potential and bringing about change in their communities. It’s hard to believe that, in this day and age, so many of the world’s children still aren’t given the opportunity of an education.
Dedicated to “all children who dream of going to school”, Going to School in India is a celebration of what school can be and mean to children. It shows and tells about all kinds of kids—from street kids to kids who go to government and community schools—and how they “climb into school buses, sit on each other’s laps in cycle rickshaws, walk along the edges of mountains, cross scorching deserts on rickety bicycles, swing across rivers on dangling swings-just to get to school.” A festive celebration of formal and informal school settings in India—and of the ways children get to them—this book also reminds us that, while millions of children do get to go to school each day, millions of others don’t.
Published by Shakti for Children (now Global Fund for Children Books) in partnership with Charlesbridge, Going to School in India (2005) is written by Lisa Heydlauff, with photos by Nitin Upadhye, and designed by B.M. Kamath. Royalties from the sale of the book support educational initiatives in India. Click here to learn more about author Lisa Heydlauff’s projects and her Going to School non-profit.
On a related note, in her 2009 interview for PaperTigers, Maya Ajmera, founder and president of the Global Fund for Children talked about the “moment of obligation” she experienced, over 20 years ago, when she stepped out onto a bustling train platform in India and came across an open-air classroom where children were being taught how to read and write—a moment that led her to start The Global Fund for Children. This anecdote illustrates what our Pacific Rim Voices executive director, Peter Coughlan, loves to say: “A ripple can become a tidal wave, an acorn an oak tree.” GFC nowadays reaches millions of children and youth around the world, and supports hundreds of educational projects, including mobile boat schools for children in Bangladesh, night classes for women and girls in the red light districts of India, and countless more.
A ripple can indeed turn into a tidal wave of goodness.
Note: Starting today, and for the rest of the week, I'm going to be sharing a variety of nonfiction children's books that would make excellent classroom resources. All of the books, aside from today's selection, have been published this year.
Now, with today's selection:
Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World by Maya Ajmera and Anna Rhesa Versola
Even though this book has been around for a while, this book is chock full of learning opportunities for children. Brought to us by The Global Fund for Children, this book introduces children to 25 countries around the world and one imaginary land, Xanadu. Starting with Australia, the book presents a different country for each letter of the alphabet. For each country, children can read fun and interesting facts, information about the children in the country, and even how to say and pronounce that country's world for hello. In addition to the narrative about the country, each spread also contains a section that lists the country's flag, capital, languages spoken, population, number of children, favorite sports, an environmental fact, and names of other countries that begin with the same letter. Each spread also includes a map of the country, showing where it is in the world along with its neighbors.
In addition to all of the information you can learn, each spread includes beautiful full-color photographs of children in that particular country. For example, in the Philippines spread, we see smiling children on the beach covered in black sand, girls dancing to the music of gongs and bamboo flutes, boys playing basketball, and a young girl weaving colorful fabric on a loom.
The information in the book is well-organized and presented in an easy-to-read, conversational tone. Unlike similar books in this genre, kids are not overwhelmed with facts. In fact, the authors selected information that really appeals to children.
Most importantly, the book introduces children to diverse cultures and demonstrates the similarities among children regardless of where they're from, what they look like, and what language they speak.
This would make an excellent addition to any home, school, or classroom library.
Research Project Ideas:
Have children create their own alphabet books featuring countries from the "other countries" list on each page. For a classroom book, assign a different country to each child, each one being responsible for creating a spread for the book. For teachers with the resources and access to a computer lab, you could even create a template with something as simple as Microsoft Word and have students drop in their own information. Children could even take home their own copies of the book if resources allow.
Variations:
- Assign children to create posters for their assigned country
- For language arts, have children write a short article or essay about their assigned country
- For the creative types, children can write a story or create a piece of art representing their assigned country
- If children know someone who is from their assigned country, they could even conduct an interview with that person
- Invite community members who are from the countries you're covering to come speak to the class
More information about the book: - Reading level: Ages 4-8
- Hardcover: 64 pages
- Publisher: Shakti for Children; 2 Revised edition (July 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1570914788
- ISBN-13: 978-1570914782
- Source: Review copy from The Global Fund for Children
Learn more about
The Global Fund for Children!
