Non-Fiction — Review

A School Like Mine:
A unique celebration of schools around the world

DK Publishing, 2007
ISBN 978-0-7566-2913-7
also available in a translated Inuktituk edition
$24.99, 80 pp, hardcover, colour photos, age 5–12
www.dk-canada.com

A School Like Mine is indeed a unique celebration of schools around the world. Each 2-page spread features a child from one country (31 countries are represented) from the six inhabited continents, and is laid up with about a dozen captioned photos to present visual and textual information about the child’s school and life. A map and general information precedes the entries for each continent. Curiously, there are three entries from the US, and the only Canadian entry is an Inuit school, hardly reflecting the majority of our population or schools. I wouldn’t let this idiosyncrasy stop me from purchasing the book, however, because it really is a beautiful book and it illustrates both how different schools are around the world, and how much they are the same, helping to promote understanding of other cultures among young people. The Kativik School Board was so delighted with the entry about the Canadian school in Kuujjaq, that they worked with DK Publishing to produce a fully translated Inuktituk edition which is also available from the publisher. A School Like Mine is a valuable resource for elementary school libraries and could be used in classroom theme studies. Children could sit together and read and discuss the text and images (it is large enough to share) or teachers could use it to guide small group or class discussions.

A School Like Mine is a joint project of DK Publishing and UNICEF. For every copy sold, a contribution is made to UNICEF.

Reviewed by Diana Mumford

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