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Children's Nonfiction Birthdays

Birthdays Around the World

by (author) Margriet Ruurs

illustrated by Ashley Barron

Publisher
Kids Can Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2017
Category
Birthdays, General, Other, Non-Religious
Recommended Age
3 to 7
Recommended Grade
p to 2
Recommended Reading age
3 to 7
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781771386241
    Publish Date
    Sep 2017
    List Price
    $19.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

Everyone in the world has a birthday. But birthdays are not celebrated in the same way everywhere. Meet Mercedes in Peru, who eats a cake and a purple pudding called mazamorra morada. Ieva in Latvia is raised in the birthday chair, one lift for each year. And rather than celebrating his own birthday, Phúc Khang in Vietnam joins in the festivities during Tet, when everyone in the country turns one year older. Based on interviews with real people, award-winning author Margriet Ruurs tells the unique stories of how seventeen children from all around the globe celebrate a birthday, including how they each say happy birthday in their native language. Following the memorable stories, children are invited to compare their own birthday traditions with the ones they've learned about in the book.

Birthdays can be a yearly highlight and a shared experience for children, which make them a perfect subject for introducing different customs around the world. As with all the titles in the bestselling Around the World series, this fascinating book provides cross-curricular applications in language arts, global studies and geography. Ashley Barron's beautiful cut-paper collage artwork adds a contemporary, stylized feel to the pages. Enriching the reading experience are a world map that pinpoints all the locations of the children in the book; a two-page spread containing six activities that facilitate a closer reading of the text; and a glossary containing translations, pronunciations and foreign scripts for the foreign words and phrases in the book.

About the authors

Margriet Ruurs is the award-winning author of forty books for children. Passionate about literacy, she writes children's and educational materials and conducts author visits and writing workshops at international schools around the world. Her picture book biography A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison won the Canadian Children’s Literature Roundtables Information Book Award and the Crystal Kite Award, and was nominated for several others. Born in the Netherlands, Margriet raised her family in the Yukon, Canada. Today, when she isn't travelling, she runs a booklover's bed and breakfast on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.

 

Margriet Ruurs' profile page

ASHLEY BARRON’s vibrant cut-paper collage illustrations appear in more than twelve picture books, including Chaiwala! by Priti Maheshwari, My City Speaks by Darren Lebeuf (winner of the Schneider Family Book Award), City Baby by Laurie Elmquist (a Bank Street Best Book of the Year) and Pretty Tricky by Etta Kaner (a Kirkus Best Picture Book and an Outstanding Science Trade Book). Ashley lives with her partner and three cats in Toronto, Ontario.

Ashley Barron's profile page

Awards

  • Winner, Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre
  • Winner, Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College

Editorial Reviews

Young readers will have lots to discover as they flip through the colourful pages while older readers will enjoy reading and learning from this informational picture book.

CM Magazine

... a good choice for introductory conversations about cultural differences.

School Library Journal

... a delightful book with engaging artwork perfectly suitable for reading out loud to children.

Quebec Library Association

... a cheerful, inviting introduction to birthdays.

Booklist

... a great book to share with young children on their birthday or in a class- room when talking about different cultural celebrations.

Resource Links

An easy, enjoyable way to start thinking about similarities and differences around the world.

Kirkus Reviews

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