Friday, November 1, 2013

If You Were Me Culture Box Books from Carole P. Roman {TOS Review}



When we were asked if we would like to review this set of books, I jumped at the chance!  We received the four books you see in the photo.  These are the first four in a series of books by Carole P Roman entitled 'If You Were Me and Live In...'  The four titles are for France, South Korea, Norway, and Mexico.

The layout of these books is really sweet. There is a young boy and girl in each book that introduce you to their country.  After showing you the country outline and telling you what continent it is on, we get a few fun facts about each of the countries, a long with a colorful illustration.


Here we are eating in Mexico.


Sightseeing in France :).  I normally wouldn't post a sideways photo, but it is upright on my computer and won't load right.  But, it was the favorite part of the books for 2 of my children and I hate to leave it out.  



Checking out the Northern Lights in Norway.


Celebrating a new year in South Korea.

Each book gives us a little peek into traditional culture, food, language, special holidays, and everyday life.  It is the same information given in each book just about a different country, so they are excellent for comparing and contrasting between the countries.

I intend to put each of these books in the correct continent box, but for this review we read all four books at one time.  Afterwards, I asked my children to draw a picture of their favorite country and why.


Here they are all around the world :).


Mustang is flying her flag at the Eiffel Tower.


Mini Cooper is staying at the snow motel and watching the Northern Lights.  I don't think she realizes how cold it is there, lol!



Charger is at the Eiffel Tower...that looks a lot like a ski lift, lol!!  He said it's a specialized elevator (always over thinking the mechanical side, that's his calling).

We REALLY enjoyed the If You Were Me books.  They are not too long, each has about 28 pages, and they are just the right size for little hands.  The illustrations are bright, colorful, and keep the children's attention.  There is just enough information to be interesting without being overwhelming.  But, overall, we actually learned something!

If You Were Me Books are written and illustrated by Carole P Roman with Away With Me Media.  They sell for $8.99 paperback and $.99 Kindle edition.  The Norway books are $11.99 paperback and $1.99 Kindle Edition.  I believe that Ms. Roman intends to publish more and we are eagerly awaiting them!

These books are PERFECT for Montessori Culture studies and I would highly recommend them for that. The publisher recommends ages pre-K through age 8, and I can certainly say that all my children ages 2-8 liked them.  I probably wouldn't have purchased them for my 8 year old, but she did enjoy reading them as part of the group. You can see what others had to say by checking out the crew blog.


1 comment:

  1. Thank your for the wonderful review. I loved the pictures!! I think the idea of a continent box is brilliant. Please watch for Kenya and Australia on Amazon, so that yo will have almost all your boxes filled!

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