How People Live FROM THE PUBLISHER
How People Live combines the appeal of a fascinating collection of stories with the educational qualities of a reference book. Focusing on the daily lives, customs, languages, and religions of peoples from around the world, we look at the fundamental similarities of all peoples, and the extraordinary traditions that make each culture unique. Maasai cattle herders often open a vein in one of their cows, drink some nutritious blood, and seal it up again.
A Russian custom involves dunking children into icy cold water in order to make them hardy and immune to illnesses. Knitting is an important craft tradition for the people of Taquile Island in Lake Titicaca -- but only the men know how to do it. Kazakh horsemen play kokpar, a version of polo, using a headless sheep's or goat's carcass instead of a ball. The people of the Pacific's Yap islands use the world's largest coins, round chunks of stone that can be up to 12 feet (3.5 meters) tall.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Janet Crane Barley
With vibrant pictures and fascinating bits of information on every page, this book takes the reader around the world in 300 pages. Although the book is divided into segments by continent and maps are included, the people are looked at through cultures that may not be defined by geographic boundaries. Individual headings for the cultures of 80-some groups of people around the world provide interesting overviews. Then fascinating bits of single-paragraph information twine around expressive pictures. Unfortunately, the format uses many stereotypes and generalities that may not be accurate. For instance, Amish life is over-simplified with a note that says they never drive cars. Actually, "black-bumper Amish" do drive plain cars. I wish the author told how many of the outfits shown in the book are regular garments and how many are strictly ceremonial. When I was in New Zealand I saw Maori garb during tourist shows, but at a private meeting at a Marae, their clothing was similar to ours. I also was troubled by the fact that on page 293 the Maori population is said to be 14 percent of the population of New Zealand and four pages later the percentage has grown to 16. Lack of attention to such a small checkable detail makes me wonder how carefully other facts were checked. Nevertheless this is a gloriously beautiful book sure to stimulate a child's (or an adult's) interest in the wide world and is worth reading with a grain or two of salt. 2003, DK Publishing Inc, Ages 8 up.
Library Journal
Gr 3-6-This contemporary and very appealing cultural atlas is akin to visiting a particularly well-designed museum exhibit about the people of the world. Though by her own admission there are far too many groups to fit into one book, Freeman makes a valiant effort to include as many as is practical and still keep the book to a manageable size, which is not an easy task. Hundreds of vibrant color photographs interspersed with short paragraphs of text describe all manner of cultural events and artifacts from every corner of the globe. The book is organized by continent, with each section introduced with a general description of the inhabitants, a political map, and abbreviated tables of pertinent statistics on such topics as language, population, and religion. Each introduction is followed by several two-page chapters on countries, geographical regions, or specific cultural or ethnic groups. What it lacks in completeness the text more than makes up for in interesting details and information on both well- and little-known groups of people. This is not the kind of book to absorb in one reading, but rather one to return to again and again, finding something new and surprising each time.-Sue Morgan, Tom Kitayama Elementary School, Union City, CA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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