How Kids Play Around the World

by Štěpánka Sekaninová, Michaela Bergannova (Illustrator)

In this book we visit 15 different countries or continents to find out what games and fun activities the local kids like to entertain themselves with. Children like to play above all else, either alone or with friends. But how and what they play varies from place to place. Would you like to know about games played in Africa, New Zealand, South America, or Vietnam? This book will show you that some games are pretty much the same wherever you go, while others are completely different and unfamiliar. In each chapter a local kid poses as a guide who introduces us to the typical and most popular games and plays of certain country or culture. Kids will learn that every nation likes to have fun in their own way and that difference is what makes each culture special.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction

36 pages, Hardcover

Published May 16, 2023

Reviews

[Catherine Hammer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Publisher Spotlight, Albatros Media, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

For me, the highlight of "How Kids Play Around the World" was the colorful and playful artwork that depicted children in different parts of the world engaging in various games and activities. However, while the aim of the book is admirable, the layout of the book was lacking for me.

Present on each double-page spread depiction of children in each geographic area of of the world are numbered boxes that share a little bit of information about different activities that are celebrated in that region of the world. In most cases, the colored number in the text box correlates with an image in the middle of the spread that shows children participating in the described activity. However, sometimes another separate text box with a different number contains related information about the activity in the previous box. The number of this subsequent box does not appear anywhere in the artwork, and it seems as if this information should have been included in one larger textbox along with the previous, related information. There are other instances where the numbered box contains "information" rather than a description of an activity. There is inconsistency of the type and format of the information being shared, and it seems as if there may have been a better way of laying out the content. These text-heavy boxes lead to a feeling of the page being crowded.

Some other more blatant problems have to do with the placement of some of the children on the opening map. The location of the child identified as being born in the USA looks suspiciously like he's actually in Canada, but it's close enough to almost count. However, there is no excuse for the child from Vietnam being placed on the map in a very northern part of China near North Korea that might actually be Russia? Additionally, while the author specifically highlights multiple games and activities from India, Australia, New Zealand and five individual countries in Europe, Africa and South America are each relegated to a single double-paged spread.

Again, I applaud the intention and effort to share games and activities of different cultures nations around the world. However, the execution was ineffectual and inaccurate at times.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children all over the world have different popular games that they play. Everyone plays some version of hide-and-seek, marbles, or skipping rope. Everyone loves soccer! But some games are unique to particular regions or cultures. We learn about Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Scotland, Israel, India, Vietnam, and other countries. Sometimes the games require certain equipment, and sometimes you only need your own arms and legs.

We get to learn about each country's culture, and how they pass the time in playing together. Some games value teamwork and others put individualism first. There are games that have a long heritage that dates back for hundreds or even thousands of years. I appreciated that the information about each different culture is presented without bias or judgement.

I really loved the design of this book and the way the information is broken up into small paragraphs for easy reading. The illustrations are really cute and colorful. It's so fun to learn about all these different children's games around the world!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very welcome book I think should be thrust at many a school library. Each double page spread is a kid from a different corner of the world, introducing us to her or his local favourites when it comes to competitive games and sports. We see them in action, to some extent, in a colourful central image, and around the sides of the pages a paragraph each tells us the basics of them all. It's a bit cheeky to say Africa is one homogenous place that can be considered with just the same content as, say, New Zealand, but looks at all the featured activities is not just for social sciences reasons, but really will inspire many a different game to be tried. Four and a half stars any play time of the week – as long as the typos in the proof are corrected.

[Sierra Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This colourful book highlights a wide variety of games played around the world. The book also explores the role of play in different cultures and the importance of play in child development. Each page focuses on a different country or region and describes several children's games played there with a large, cheerful illustration panel showing children playing the games. Although there are games featured from all over the world, there is more focus given to games from European and Western culture-based regions. Some of the regions explored include New Zealand, Israel, Vietnam, and Germany. This is a great reference-style book for children interested in learning about games from around the world.

[Lisa Gisèle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this story. My opinions are entirely my own.

A wonderfuly fun book. It's fun to see how similar some cames are throughout the world. Also gives me fun ideas to try out.myself