If You Were Me. . . -Review

I love building up our library of children's book with new and exciting stories. I had never heard of the author Carole P. Roman until recently when we had a chance to review several of her children's books. We reviewed If You Were Me and Lived on. . .Mars, If You Were Me and Lived in. . . Russia, If You Were Me and Lived in. . .Mexico, If You Were Me and Lived in. . .Peru. These books are a great mix of fun reading for children but also filled with a lot of interesting facts. The books that talk about the different countries are all part of a series, "A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World". The illustrations are all eye catching and very colorful. The wording is printed in an easy to read font. I found it neat that for some of the more difficult words, there was a pronunciation guide for the word in parenthesis. In fact, at the very end of the books is a full list of all the words that had the word guides throughout the book.

If You Were Me and Lived in Russia, the book starts off with a map of Russia and then where it is located on the globe. It shares about Russian names your parents may have named you as well as what the Russian word for mom & dad are. The book also goes on to share types of food you would eat such as borscht and ikra. Children even are told about the types of games you would play such as xoken or fipe.

If You Were Me and Lived in Mexico starts off with a map of Mexico and shares the location of the capital, Mexico City, as well. The book goes on to explain what their currency is called, peso. We enjoyed the facts about the Mayan Temple and reading about the foods you could eat if you lived in Mexico such as tamale's. There were even a few Spanish words included throughout the book. I have visited Mexico myself and found all the facts to be spot on and it took me back to my mission trip there.

My my favorite book in this series we received was If You Were Me and Lived in Peru. I spent 6 months living in Peru after I graduated high school so reading this book took me back there. I actually lived in Lima, the capital that the book talks about. There was an actual picture of Machu Picchu with the cartoon characters overlooking it. The book described one of my most favorite Peruvian dishes, ceviche and shared how it is made.
All the If You Were Me and Lived in books gives a unique perspective of what a child's life would be like living in each of those countries. The books present many interesting facts and would be a great way to start a unit study on those specific countries.

The other book we received was If You Were Me and Lived on. . .Mars. The book starts off describing the time involved and process of simply traveling to Mars. It goes on to give facts about Mars and compares it to Earth. It goes on to describe how life might look by living on Mars with having no building materials and how you'd have to wear a special suit just to walk around outside. It also talks about the dangerous dust storms and the precautions one would have to take if living there. The end of the book also gives a pronunciation guide to difficult words.
My little ones enjoyed having me read these books. The pictures held their attention and what we read about brought up many thought provoking questions from them and really got them thinking. I would highly recommend any of her books to expand your children's library!
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