Multicultural Books

Looks-Alikes Around the World

Steiner, J. (2007). Look-alikes around the world. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

ISBN-10: 0-316-81172-6

ISBN-13: 978-0-316-81172-9

This book takes us on a trip around the world with postcards of many exotic places. The postcards do not contain photos of the real places. Instead, Joan Steiner has built the places using common everyday objects, such as building the Sydney Opera House out of pistachios, garlic clove, clothespin, hair clips, and tiny dice. The author first starts in Europe, which was then followed by a trip to Paris. Next, we traveled through water, past the famous castles on the Rhine in Germany and into Italy. We then flew to Greece and then into Africa. We then went to the white, grand castle of India. After that, we journeyed to the Far East into Thailand, and into Japan and China. We then sailed to the South Pacific and into Peru in South America. Finally, we arrived in North America, where went traveled to San Francisco, Florida, and the Great Plains in Manitoba. We then took a trip to California and Texas. After going to Cape Cod, we finally arrived back at home in New York.

This book is great for 3 to 5 year-olds because they can compare the differences between the countries. Furthermore, there are few words in each page and it does not take long to finish the book. This fits young children well, because they can sit through the whole book without feeling bored. In addition, the illustrations in this book are very unique in that the scenes are created by using everyday objects. Although the photos that are taken are not directly from the actual places, the sceneries in the postcards look realistic. This is a great opportunity for children to explore and search for objects in the postcards. Because the illustrations were done very creatively, I believe the children will really enjoy the book. ECEs can help the children identify objects in the postcards, which makes this book very interactive.

Provocations:

As a provocation, I will ask the children which places they have traveled to, and what they remembered about their trip. I can have the children interact and share their experiences. This will interest the children because they most likely not have been to many different countries, and they will be curious to read a story about all the different countries they can go to.

Another provocation is to present postcards of different countries around the world. The children will be amazed at the beautiful scenery and the differences they see in the postcards as opposed to what they normally see in the lower mainland. After seeing the postcards, the children may be eager to see more postcards of the beautiful sceneries and provoke their interest in different countries.

Presenting the Book:

1) I would use a prop box. It would consist of a mailbox made out of a shoebox. I would also scan the photos of the postcards from the book and put the postcards into the mailbox in the chronological order as shown in the book. I would take out the postcards out of the mailbox one by one and briefly describe what is in the postcard based on the book.

2) While reading the story, I can have the children look at the postcards and see if they can identify any everyday objects that they can see. They can discuss and interact with each other on what they see in the postcards. When it is time to “travel” from one country to the next, the children and I can make swooshing sounds as we “fly on an airplane”, and make water splashing sounds from a water bucket beside me as we “sail through the oceans” to another country.

3) I can bring in the same scanned postcards and have the children construct in order which countries they want to visit first, which country they want to visit after, etc. After that, I can clip the postcards to a string and hang it up so that it creates a timeline and a story vine. I will then tell the story in order of the postcards. The children will be excited to follow the story in which they have constructed the order themselves. This is also an excellent opportunity for them to practice cooperation skills. They can discuss together on which country to visit first and which country to visit last, etc.

Extensions:

1) The children can create their own postcards. Fold a piece of white paper into four, cut them out, and have the children create their own postcards. The postcard can be from anywhere in the world. They can draw a place where they really wish to travel to, or a place where they have been to, or a place out of their imagination. With this freedom, the children can expand their creativity and imagination. After they have created the postcards, they can give it to their parents and tell the parents that it is a postcard from them.

2) The children can help create scenery made out of everyday objects, similar to how the author created the sceneries. I will let the children pick what scenery they want to make. For example, if they wish to create scenery of Antarctica, we can make a penguin. I will bring in salted sunflower seed, egg, wishbone, mouse cat toy, lentils, lace, and Styrofoam packing material. The children can create the scenery together, which can promote cooperative play and the use of their fine motor skills in building objects.

3) I can bring in pictures of how the sceneries look in real life, as well as bringing in the scanned postcards from the book. Here, the children can compare and contrast the different pictures, and see if they can match the scanned postcards with the photos of the real sceneries. This can help the children explore and sort the different photos. They can also practice their matching skills, and learn about similarities and differences.