Japan: The Culture

Bobbie Kalman - Lands, Peoples and Cultures

by Bobbie Kalman

From social manners to festivals, children will love reading about the many traditions, such as the tea ceremony, that enrich Japanese lives.

Genres: Japan

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Bobbie Kalman (1947 - ) is the award-winning Canadian author of more than 400 non-fiction books.

She established herself as a leading author in children’s non-fiction in the 1980’s and 90’s with two acclaimed series about pioneer life, The Early Settler Life Series (15 titles) and The Historic Communities Series (31 titles), both published by Crabtree Publishing.
She has created many of Crabtree’s most popular series, which also include The Native Nations of North America Series (19 titles), The Lands, Peoples, and Cultures Series (93 titles), and The Science of Living Things Series (32 titles), among others.

Born in Hungary in 1947, Bobbie and her family escaped to Austria during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The family spent several weeks there as refugees before immigrating to North America. A former teacher, Bobbie Kalman taught at both the elementary and secondary levels. She also spent several years working as an educational consultant for several publishing companies. Bobbie holds degrees in English, Psychology, and Education. She is married and has four children and three grandchildren.

Although best known for her non-fiction, Bobbie’s newest book is autobiographical. Released in September, 2006, Refugee Child is the account of Bobbie and her family’s escape from Hungary when she was just nine years old. Written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in October of 2006, the book is told from the perspective of a young girl.

Reviews

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for younger readers about Japan, containing some very beautiful photographs and a good deal of information. It starts out with how Japan is a blending of the modern and the traditional, then discusses the love of nature in Japan. The next section deals with fine arts including the making of handmade paper (I saw a special on this once and it was fascinating), then moves on to the treasures of Japan (which National Geographic did a special on entitled Living Treasures of Japan.)


The next section is about Japanese theater which covers several of the theater forms; this moves on to a discussion of Shinto, Buddhism and Zen. Festivals are discussed next and this takes up a number of pages. Ancient robes are shown (this is the kimono), and then the tea ceremony is covered.


There are a couple pages on Japanese customs and a page of activities one can do on one's own.

A neat book for readers of any age, really.

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of cultures around the world--I like this series and have read many of them. Highly recommended.