Celebrating Birth Around the World (Raintree Perspectives)

Anita Ganeri is an award-winning author of children's information books. She has been a writer for 20 years, after working in-house for Usborne Publishing and Walker Books. She specializes in the natural world, religion, and mythology, but is always looking for new challenges. Anita lives in northern England with her husband, children, dogs, and cat. She enjoys reading, walking the Moors, playing tennis, and dreaming of winning Wimbledon.

Gr 3-6-All humans commemorate life's milestones, and this set takes emerging readers to celebrations around the world. Double-page chapters describe how a wide variety of religious groups, subcultures, and nations mark important events, but books are short on background. Some spreads provide limited information about a culture or nation, including locator maps, but others merely describe ceremonies or rites, such as Hindu and Sikh weddings, with little explanation of their religious or cultural significance. The books don't explain the central tenets of world religions such as Islam or Hinduism, reducing the likelihood that readers will understand the importance of these ceremonies and customs. Sidebars, arts and craft projects, and large, average-quality photos supplement the text. VERDICT These volumes demonstrate the universality of celebrations, but there are many extant titles about specific countries, cultures, and religions that cover them in a fuller context, making the series a supplemental purchase.α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.