Russia (First Reports - Countries) - Softcover

Compass Point Books is a publisher of children’s books and digital products.

Gr 3-4-A pleasing introduction that is at its best when it focuses on nature and daily life. While simplification is unavoidable in writing history for this audience, the paragraph about how government leaders made major economic decisions in the Soviet Union should not have ended with the statement: "They even told children what to be when they grew up." This misrepresentation is compounded when readers are told on the next page that today, "Children are thinking about what to be when they grow up." The photographs are excellent and many of them include youngsters. However, none of them feature anyone from an Asian ethnic minority even though the book points out that Russia stretches across two continents. The Internet sites provided in the sources for further information will not be of much use to this age group. Helen Frost's A Look at Russia (Pebble Books, 2001) is a good, but much more basic book for a slightly younger audience.

Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign

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