Indonesia

Blastoff! Readers: Exploring Countries

by Lisa Owings

As a country of 17,000 islands, Indonesia is truly unique. It's fitting that many rare animals make their homes in Indonesia. The venomous Komodo dragon, one of the deadliest animals in the world, is one such animal. Encounter it in this title as you learn about life on the Indonesian islands.

Genres: Asia, Nonfiction

Audible Audio

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from reading this book. Indonesia is the 4th most populous country in the world. I never would have figured that. Bali is an island that is mostly Hindu or Buddhist while the majority on the other islands are Moslem. Many of their religious or cultural costumes are elaborate and beautiful. Komodo Island is the only place in the world that has the komodo dragon. I have heard of those since grade school and am still in awe. Their farms grow a lot of coffee beans, tea, cocoa beans, and rice. The durian fruit is an odd one as it is so stinky it has been banned from some restaurants. On Independence Day, they have a contest to see who can climb a pole slathered with grease. Odd? By land area, Indonesia is the 15th largest country in the world.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exploring Countries series; 32 pages. Great basic information and photos. Good resource for reports or recreational reading. Highly recommended for Grades 4-5.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today I went to library with my mom, not in hope of renting anything because I already have five books out but I was inspired to find at least one book on Indonesia. So I went to non-fiction and found one book, which was pretty exciting. It wasn't until I decided to check the children's nonfiction that I found 5 other books on Indonesia and one on Islam. So this book was one of those five and it was definitely aimed toward a child audience. One new fact I learned about Indonesia is Indonesia has three crater lakes that are located right next to each other but are different colors and they will shift colors overtime because of the different minerals. I thought that was pretty, but overall it didn't inform me on anything I didn't already know.

[Kari Worsham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scholastic Blastoff Readers about the countries are really great and age appropriate from lower to upper elementary. My students do a big country study unit every fall so these are perfect for us. I like that they are bright, easy to read, have great pictures, and are broken down into easy to read chapters. They have interesting fun facts sprinkled throughout the text and have all of the usual aspects of a non-fiction book: table of contents, fast facts section, glossary, to learn more, and index.