One World, One Day (Barbara Kerley Photo Inspirations)

Sixty crisp, skillfully composed photographs follow children from all corners of the globe through a day, revealing activities that are strikingly similar yet widely divergent in the details. The juxtaposition of images is often remarkable. A photo of a girl waving from the back window of a Pennsylvania school bus appears beside a picture of a child in China's Yunnan Province, whose commute entails crossing a river in a seat suspended from a zip line. Many of the photographers (the images come from numerous sources) use light to dramatic effect: a soft glow illuminates the faces of eight girls in Gujarat, India; sunlight streams through windows as four boys stand at prayer in an Indo-nesian mosque. Supplementing Kerley's ("A Cool Drink of Water") minimal, pithy text (Recess rocks! And so does lunch) are substantive concluding notes that specify the locations, provide cultural context for the photos andmost intriguingoffer occasional photographers' perspectives: the photo of the Indian girls was taken in a refugee camp (They were wonderful and full of laughter despite the terrible conditions). An arresting, eye-opening compilation. All ages. "(May)" Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 3 Each day, as the sun rises, children around the world awake, wash, eat breakfast, and go to school, then play or work and share the evening with their families. Illustrating the premise that "the more we can embrace our commonality, the more tolerant we can be of our differences," the book's color photos from many countries show youngsters involved in their daily routines, clearly capturing their expressions and involvement with their tasks. Accompanying snippets of text encourage readers to concentrate on the action in each photo. The locations are not identified until the end of the book, where an appended list identifies the photographer and the country in very small print and a map serves as an index to the photographs. While the simplistic narrative lends itself to preschoolers, some images present similarities and differences among various religions that will best be appreciated by children in the older part of the grade range.

"Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA" Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.