I LIKE TO PLAY

A flawed look at the ways children play around the world. Many children in the United States or Canada may no longer make their own toys, but the photos of kids from Bangladesh, Malawi and Sudan who have created their own playthings from bits of wood and wire or even old radios are intriguing. The photos of children dancing in Peru and Myanmar, building with plastic blocks in Indonesia and Vietnam and playing with balls in Ethiopia and Mongolia (activities a little more familiar to most North American readers) can also work as conversation starters. Unfortunately, this book in the World Vision Early Readers series suffers from a lack of specific identification (readers have to go to the photo credits to find out where the pictures were taken), no map and a text that provides little new information. While the emphasis on the universal is understandable, maps and country names can and should become part of every child’s early learning, and it’s precisely these visual books that could help make children aware of the world outside their little neighborhood. Look for others that do the job better. (Picture book. 4-6)