If You Were Me and Lived in...

By Carole P. Roman

Quality educational books that will hold a young readers’ attention can be hard to come by. How do you balance the need to give information while at the same time make it interesting and appealing to a young audience? To answer that question, look no further than award winning author Carole P. Roman’s “If You Were Me and Lived in…” series.

Beautifully illustrated, with special attention to detail, each of these books follow a simple recipe: where is the country located, what’s special about the country, and what are some native words that kids would want to know. Fun facts like what their names might be or what they’d call their parents are woven through the pages. Let your children read about the Taj Mahal in India, Chichen Itza in Mexico or Machu Picchu in Peru. Maybe they’ll enjoy Saint Istvahn’s Day in Hungary or the Mombasa Carnival in Kenya or want to learn how to play cricket (Australia) or futbol (Portugal). Better yet, experience with them local cuisine that they read about like crepes (France), kimchee (South Korea), kebabs (Turkey) and piroshky (Russia). As an added bonus, there is a pronunciation guide in the back of each of the books.  This reviewer was especially grateful for that!

Bottom line: If you want to open the eyes and minds of the children in your life to the amazing and diverse world around them, do not miss out on this fantastic series.  These should be on the shelves of libraries in schools, communities and homes everywhere.

Books in the series include:

• If You Were Me and Lived in…Australia (Clarion Five Star Review)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…France (Rebecca’s Reads Choice Awards Winner, Pinnacle Book Achievement Award)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Greece
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Hungary
• If You Were Me and Lived in…India (Clarion Five Star Review)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Kenya (Clarion Five Star Review)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Mexico (Pinnacle Book Achievement Award)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Norway (Rebecca’s Reads Choice Awards Winner)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Peru
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Portugal (Clarion Five Star Review)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Russia (Clarion Five Star Review, Pinnacle Book Achievement Award)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…South Korea (Reader Views Readers Choice Award 2014, Pinnacle Book Achievement Award)
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Turkey

This review was submitted by Kristin  - Kristin is a wife, homeschooling mom and the founder of The Book Trotter.  She wrote her first review over 20 years ago and has been reading and loving books ever since.