nonfiction nuggets…schools around the world

A School Like Mine: A Unique Celebration of Schools Around the World, written and edited by Penny Smith and Zahavit Shalev

Just in time for the beginning of school, here’s a beautiful Dorling Kindersley book, written in collaboration with UNICEF, published in 2007.  Open it up and enjoy bright, arresting introductions to kids from the Arctic to the South Seas.

In the high, chilly mountains of Peru, Maria is learning  both Quechua and Spanish.  She eats a welcome meal of soy milk and fortified bread in the middle of the morning, before she goes back to help her grandmother pick and wash the wheat for their dinner.

Lukasi, who lives in Kuujjuaq, the largest Inuit village in Quebec, speaks 3 languages, though he is only 10 years old — English, French, and Inuktitut.  He walks through the snowy, dark town to his beautiful school, no matter how cold it is.

Søren, from Denmark, rides his bike to school where he has classes from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.  In a few years, when he is 14, he hopes to move to a boarding school for soccer players.

Hassa is 10, and lives in Mongolia.  He goes to two different schools, a modern school where many of the children are boarding students from nomadic families, and a monastery school where he studies to become a Buddhist monk.

This fascinating book introduces us to these and many more children, ages 8-12,  telling us intriguing tidbits about their schools, as well as their  families, pets, activities, and dreams.  Children from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia are represented here.  Some are from developed countries, others from impoverished places, some attend public schools, others go to boarding schools or homeschool.  Each child’s account features quite a number of photos accompanying lots of interesting, brief snatches of information.

Honestly, I couldn’t put this book down!  It’s really, really interesting!  I especially was taken with the leisurely meal times, shortened school days, and brief homework assignments in a number of the European countries.  So humane, in my opinion!  I do think folks from age 8 and up would very much enjoy wandering through this book, visiting these children and learning about the ways they live their lives.

Here’s an Amazon link:  A School Like Mine