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Children Just Like Me
Children Just Like Me
Tadessa from Ethiopia, Suchart from Thailand, Celina from Brazil...each has hopes and fears dreams and beliefs. Their cultures are different yet in many ways their daily lives are very similar as are their hopes for the future and their ways of looking at the world. Over the past two years a photographer and a teacher have travelled to more than 30 different parts of the world to meet these children. Their stories are recorded in this remarkable book published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Extraordinary photographs bring to life the children's families and homes, their clothes and food, their friends and favourite games and other aspects of their daily lives. The children live in places as diverse as New York, Mongolia, and the Amazon Basin. There are children from both industrialised and developing nations, including children from tribal cultures. Their environments include mountains, deserts, rainforests, plains, and polar regions. Most live in extended or nuclear families but Suchart a novice monk live in a monastery and Tedasse an Ethiopian boy lives in an orphanage. Children everywhere will enjoy reading about the lives of these children who share their world...'I'd love to travel into space because I want to see if there are any creatures on other planets' - Ji-Koo, South Korea. 'I like living by the river - I want to live here for the rest of my life. I love the forest and it makes me sad when people chop down the trees' - Celina, Brazil. 'I think that the best thing about being a child is that you get lots of love from your family' - Michael, Israel. 'I see on television that there is a lot of war and fighting in the world and I wish that it would end and that the world could be peaceful' - Houda, Morocco.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
February 10, 2017
I remember looking through it several times when Georgia my daughter was five or six and I just had to stop and walk away. All these beautiful children, and all their little hopes and fragile families. Each child describes themselves like this -
"Hello. My name is Joseph Mbangwe and I live in a village in Eastern Congo and I am eight years old. I have two little brothers and a baby little sister. I do not go to school yet, but wish to do so soon, when it is possible. I love football!"
And you the adult reading this book several years after it was published are silently adding some other comments :
"I do not wish to be kidnapped and made to fight by some other boys. I do not wish a lot of soldiers shooting people in my village. I do not hope to have killed ten other boys by the time I am fourteen. I wish to go to school."
Or then there was a lovely Eastern European girl. "Hello everyone. My name is Nadia and I live in a small town in the middle of Romania. My dream is to be a dancer and maybe to go to America. I practise every day. I am ten years old" to which can be added "..... and I do not wish when I am eighteen to be told that there is a great job waiting for me in London and to give some guy 20,000 lei to get me there and to wake up and find the job isn't like he said it was at all..."
Anyway, you get the drift. The effect of all those little faces, the earnest ones, the crazy smiling ones, the wistful ones, the fiery ones - and sitting next to me my own little earnest daughter asking - "do you thing she will grow up to be a dancer?" - it was way too much for me.
There were pages and pages of these kids, and I knew that some of them would be all right, and some of them wouldn't.
There should be a sticker on the front : "Warning! Not for Grownups! Pages of happy hopeful smiling children inside!"
"Hello. My name is Joseph Mbangwe and I live in a village in Eastern Congo and I am eight years old. I have two little brothers and a baby little sister. I do not go to school yet, but wish to do so soon, when it is possible. I love football!"
And you the adult reading this book several years after it was published are silently adding some other comments :
"I do not wish to be kidnapped and made to fight by some other boys. I do not wish a lot of soldiers shooting people in my village. I do not hope to have killed ten other boys by the time I am fourteen. I wish to go to school."
Or then there was a lovely Eastern European girl. "Hello everyone. My name is Nadia and I live in a small town in the middle of Romania. My dream is to be a dancer and maybe to go to America. I practise every day. I am ten years old" to which can be added "..... and I do not wish when I am eighteen to be told that there is a great job waiting for me in London and to give some guy 20,000 lei to get me there and to wake up and find the job isn't like he said it was at all..."
Anyway, you get the drift. The effect of all those little faces, the earnest ones, the crazy smiling ones, the wistful ones, the fiery ones - and sitting next to me my own little earnest daughter asking - "do you thing she will grow up to be a dancer?" - it was way too much for me.
There were pages and pages of these kids, and I knew that some of them would be all right, and some of them wouldn't.
There should be a sticker on the front : "Warning! Not for Grownups! Pages of happy hopeful smiling children inside!"
November 30, 2008
Clear color photographs of children from around the world as well as their houses, schools, favorite foods, and activities
Ages 4-9
One of the best resources for introducing children to different cultures around the globe, this book was written by Anabel and Barnabas Kindersley in association with UNICEF. Each one or two page spread shows a closeup picture of a real child, and clear photographs illustrate his or her family, house, favorite foods and what they like to play with. My child immediately loved Celina, a Tembe Indian from Brazil who wears no shirt , but her chest is decorated with red paint, and she sleeps in a hammock and bathes in a river. Other children portrayed are Rachel, who lives in a French chateau, Meena, who lives on a construction site in India, and Suchart, a Thai monk. The book encourages children to see children in other parts of the world, no matter how humble their possessions, as beautiful and important individuals. The only possible danger from reading this book is that, because there is only one child from most countries, some children might assume that all Brazilians look like Celina. Aside from that possibility, however, I think this book excites curiosity and appreciation of the world's diverse cultures. The ALA voted this book a Notable/Best book of 1996.
A Horn Book review from March, 1996 mentions helpfully that the magazine-like format of the book encourages browsing and will provide children with insight about other cultures. A School Library Journal review from January, 1996 goes into more detail about how the book is organized, i.e. that it is divided by continent and contains a supplemental section in the form of a travel diary by the authors. Both reviews summarize what the book contains and agree that the book would be enlightening for children to read.
Ages 4-9
One of the best resources for introducing children to different cultures around the globe, this book was written by Anabel and Barnabas Kindersley in association with UNICEF. Each one or two page spread shows a closeup picture of a real child, and clear photographs illustrate his or her family, house, favorite foods and what they like to play with. My child immediately loved Celina, a Tembe Indian from Brazil who wears no shirt , but her chest is decorated with red paint, and she sleeps in a hammock and bathes in a river. Other children portrayed are Rachel, who lives in a French chateau, Meena, who lives on a construction site in India, and Suchart, a Thai monk. The book encourages children to see children in other parts of the world, no matter how humble their possessions, as beautiful and important individuals. The only possible danger from reading this book is that, because there is only one child from most countries, some children might assume that all Brazilians look like Celina. Aside from that possibility, however, I think this book excites curiosity and appreciation of the world's diverse cultures. The ALA voted this book a Notable/Best book of 1996.
A Horn Book review from March, 1996 mentions helpfully that the magazine-like format of the book encourages browsing and will provide children with insight about other cultures. A School Library Journal review from January, 1996 goes into more detail about how the book is organized, i.e. that it is divided by continent and contains a supplemental section in the form of a travel diary by the authors. Both reviews summarize what the book contains and agree that the book would be enlightening for children to read.
October 28, 2015
Really inclusive and beautiful. Most of the kids are wearing common clothes in their countries, not traditional garb. (I usually hate that because then they just put American children in street clothes implying that they kids in Japan wear kimonos.) The illustrations are big and the information in small paragraphs around the illustrations, making it much less daunting and allowing someone to rid bits of a page and still get a cohesive bit of information. I think this is an wonderful gift for kids and is suitable for reading with a child.
May 25, 2009
Ah, this is a UNICEF book, which I didn’t know until I had it in hand. I’ve always liked UNICEF; every year I trick or treated for them when I was young, and as I recall, quite a bit of my own savings got contributed as well.
This is a wonderful book highlighting various children from around the world. Each child is profiled and interesting aspects of their lives are shown: their families, friends, favorite foods, customs, religion, dress, toys, what they call their mother and father, schooling, how they write their name in their language, certain other details of their lifestyles, and so much more. There are a lot of photos included. The featured children range in age from six to twelve, but siblings and child relatives both younger and older than in this range are shown too.
The book is structured by continent, then by country and by individual child. At the beginning of each continent section, there are photos and information about the area.
As with all books like this I wanted even more details, more children, more countries, but it was more comprehensive than I’d expected.
At the end, the authors/creators talk a little about their journey through the various countries and recall certain details about what happened with individual children, and I found that interesting.
I was very uplifted to see so many of these children talk about their concerns about the environment, war, education, and other important world concerns. In the end, children are children/people are people everywhere, a not unexpected message to take away from a UNICEF book.
I was very touched by many of these children’s lives and stories.
Now, I want to read Children Just Like Me: Celebrations! It’s a similar book by the same team.
Ha! I started to put this book on my bookshelves instead of putting it on the pile of books that needs to go back to the library. Perhaps that does show I’d like to own this book, in part to share it with children. This is a great book for children and also a terrific book to share with children, including those too young to read the text for themselves.
This is a wonderful book highlighting various children from around the world. Each child is profiled and interesting aspects of their lives are shown: their families, friends, favorite foods, customs, religion, dress, toys, what they call their mother and father, schooling, how they write their name in their language, certain other details of their lifestyles, and so much more. There are a lot of photos included. The featured children range in age from six to twelve, but siblings and child relatives both younger and older than in this range are shown too.
The book is structured by continent, then by country and by individual child. At the beginning of each continent section, there are photos and information about the area.
As with all books like this I wanted even more details, more children, more countries, but it was more comprehensive than I’d expected.
At the end, the authors/creators talk a little about their journey through the various countries and recall certain details about what happened with individual children, and I found that interesting.
I was very uplifted to see so many of these children talk about their concerns about the environment, war, education, and other important world concerns. In the end, children are children/people are people everywhere, a not unexpected message to take away from a UNICEF book.
I was very touched by many of these children’s lives and stories.
Now, I want to read Children Just Like Me: Celebrations! It’s a similar book by the same team.
Ha! I started to put this book on my bookshelves instead of putting it on the pile of books that needs to go back to the library. Perhaps that does show I’d like to own this book, in part to share it with children. This is a great book for children and also a terrific book to share with children, including those too young to read the text for themselves.
October 27, 2016
I looooooooved this book when I was a kid. I think my grandmother bought it for me, but my copy got lost over the course of 20 years. But just today I found a copy at the book seller for 25 cents! Bingo!
There's something really cool about seeing how kids your age live all around the world. Specifically I loved seeing how they all wrote their names and pictures of the little things they treasured. I remember thinking a lot about their schools and the kinds of things they ate. The book profiles a handful of kids per continent, but each section starts with photos of lots of kids with an introduction to the region. I remember reading and wanting so much more. I wanted to read profiles on every single one of those kids! Especially if the girls had cool barrettes or a fancy dress. It was really powerful to get a small dose of global perspective, in a way that is applicable and understandable to children.
There's something really cool about seeing how kids your age live all around the world. Specifically I loved seeing how they all wrote their names and pictures of the little things they treasured. I remember thinking a lot about their schools and the kinds of things they ate. The book profiles a handful of kids per continent, but each section starts with photos of lots of kids with an introduction to the region. I remember reading and wanting so much more. I wanted to read profiles on every single one of those kids! Especially if the girls had cool barrettes or a fancy dress. It was really powerful to get a small dose of global perspective, in a way that is applicable and understandable to children.
April 23, 2009
Great photos showing kids' daily lives around the world. Schools, food, and homes are all shown, and the contrasts are fascinating, while still showing that kids are kids, no matter where they live.
Highly recommended for everyone!
Highly recommended for everyone!
March 9, 2014
A very good book for children to learn about other cultures and to broaden their minds about other races, languages and traditions.
October 8, 2018
One of my absolute favorite books as a kid!
October 27, 2017
I really love how the book introduces children to different cultures. It is really nice how each page shows kids from different countries, with facts about their culture and country. I also love how the children are wearing traditional wear from their culture. I believe the book is a good way to introduce children to different cultures, countries, and overall diversity the world has to offer. I believe this is a good book for kids of all ages.
March 10, 2016
Beautiful book, children from around the world, pictures of their family, their house, their favourite toy and what they eat for tea. Such a compelling read, how amazing ( or not ) that the child that lives in tent with next to no possessions looks as eqally as happy as the western child in the city. I think what all these children have in common are loving parents.
February 9, 2025
Así, más ganas me dan de viajar.
September 29, 2022
I loved this book as I enjoy learning about people and different countries and civilizations, past and present. This would be good for any child to peruse and realize, if they are living in favorable conditions, how lucky they are to have so many advantages. Another lesson would also be to realize that some children who have very little to our Western eyes, are still happy. Nine year old Celina from the Amazon rain forest remarks "I like living by the river - I want to live here for the rest of my life. I love the forest, and it makes me sad when people chop down trees". Eight year old Omar from Cancun, Mexico remarks "If I could change the world in any way, I would help all the children who are abandoned by their families [!!!]. I would talk to their parents and ask them not to make their children work in the streets. They should keep them inside, give them food, and make sure that they always go to school." Ten year old Subaedah from Indonesia wishes "If I could change anything about the world, I would make all the bad people good." Eight year old, Edgar from the Philippines shares "I want to do well at school, because then, when I am older, I will be able to earn money to give to my mother for buying rice." Twelve year old, Suchart who is studying to be a Buddhist monk says that "I want to be a monk when I grow up because it is a simple life...I don't really wish for anything at all. I am happy here just as I am." Required reading for many a spoiled and jaded youth.
September 17, 2018
This book introduces children to other cultures in an approachable way (the profiles are only a page long), the profiles detail children’s lives in other countries. Each profile contains information about the food they eat, activities they do, the other people in their family and other details about the lives of children in other places.
I can see this book being very useful in school in PSHE, spotting similarities and differences between the children in the book’s lives and cultures and those of children in the class, and in topic work about particular countries, cultures or celebrations.
The profiles are written in a purely factual way, with only a single quote from each child, which allows children to use their imaginations, and the accompanying pictures, to flesh out the profiles. I loved this book as a child and enjoyed reading about the routines of other children. I think it would be interesting to introduce the book and use the style of the profiles as a “getting to know you” activity, asking children to make their own or make one for another child in the class.
I can see this book being very useful in school in PSHE, spotting similarities and differences between the children in the book’s lives and cultures and those of children in the class, and in topic work about particular countries, cultures or celebrations.
The profiles are written in a purely factual way, with only a single quote from each child, which allows children to use their imaginations, and the accompanying pictures, to flesh out the profiles. I loved this book as a child and enjoyed reading about the routines of other children. I think it would be interesting to introduce the book and use the style of the profiles as a “getting to know you” activity, asking children to make their own or make one for another child in the class.
December 16, 2019
Finally I found it with Google’s help! I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember the title of a book I loved reading & looking at when I was younger. The names of the kids, how they each wrote their name (using their native alphabet but a translation was included) & the clothing of each child always intrigued me. I remember being fascinated the 1st time I read about the girl from Russia—Olga pictured with her sister Dasha I believe—because their alphabet was so much different. I remember thinking the clothing the twin boys from Japan (or another country nearby) wore were so cool. The colors were so vibrant & reminded me of clothes I saw in movies like Aladdin or the King & I.
For anyone who is a teacher, is a parent of a Girl Scout or Boy Scout, or any parents in general I suggest getting this book for your kids. There’s so much about each child’s life on their page or pages. Usually 1 or 2 pages are devoted to each child or siblings in a few cases
For anyone who is a teacher, is a parent of a Girl Scout or Boy Scout, or any parents in general I suggest getting this book for your kids. There’s so much about each child’s life on their page or pages. Usually 1 or 2 pages are devoted to each child or siblings in a few cases
August 13, 2019
Children Just Like Me provides a snapshot of the lives lived by children throughout the world, their families and schools and food and games and friends. When my daughter was between the ages of 4 and 7 she asked me to read this book (almost) nightly. It sparked conversations about the similarities between her and the kids as well as differences. We got to talk about places we want to visit and people we would like to meet. Most of all, Children Just Like Me exposed my daughter to the facts that there are countless different ways people live their lives, but all kids (and all people) share common hopes and joys. Plus, I learned a lot by reading it (over and over again).
I recommend Children Just Like Me for kids ages 4 to 7.
For more recommendations please visit https://paulrondemachildrensauthor.wo....
I recommend Children Just Like Me for kids ages 4 to 7.
For more recommendations please visit https://paulrondemachildrensauthor.wo....
May 3, 2022
This is a staple for any child's bookshelf in my opinion. We come back to this book over and over when we are researching a country for a project, or wanting to know a bit more about a culture or cultural tradition.
The book covers each continent and focuses on a few countries within that continent. For each country there is a picture of a child, or family from that country and a whole range of information and photos relating to the child, their school, home, hobbies and clothes.
It is such a great conversation starter for little ones to discuss similarities and differences between cultural traditions, languages and clothes.
The book covers each continent and focuses on a few countries within that continent. For each country there is a picture of a child, or family from that country and a whole range of information and photos relating to the child, their school, home, hobbies and clothes.
It is such a great conversation starter for little ones to discuss similarities and differences between cultural traditions, languages and clothes.
September 5, 2024
I used to get this book out of the school library repeatedly. As an adult I have looked and tried to remember what this book was called, I could only remember it was a DK book. I couldn't remember the title. Someone on my friend list just added one of the series to their reading list so I had a look and I'm pretty sure this is it!!! The publication year looks right and some of the children on the front look familiar. I can remember a bit about a South American girl feeling sick when she got in the car with the writer of the book because she had never been in a car before. I'm going to look for this book because I would love to read this and meet all my old friends again.
January 4, 2022
This is a really cool book featuring children from countries all over the world and explaining some things about their families, daily life, cultural traditions, and more.
I passed it along because it's very advanced for my toddler, but I liked it so much that I might pick up the 2016 updated version for later. Oh--yep. I just checked the Amazon page for the new version and the kid from the U.S. has the same name as my daughter. Buying.
I don't remember if it actually includes all of the geographical regions I tagged it with, but it came pretty dang close if it didn't.
I passed it along because it's very advanced for my toddler, but I liked it so much that I might pick up the 2016 updated version for later. Oh--yep. I just checked the Amazon page for the new version and the kid from the U.S. has the same name as my daughter. Buying.
I don't remember if it actually includes all of the geographical regions I tagged it with, but it came pretty dang close if it didn't.
February 15, 2020
Informative and interesting. But also a lot longer than it looks. And in the end finishing this was tedious and boring. Looking at this book repeatedly, just browsing through would probably be a lot better. The making of this book brings up so many questions of the choices the writers made. Where to go, who to show, what to ask. I wonder that it doesn't leave a lot more of the writers than they would have wanted.
March 15, 2021
Este libro fue para mí una ventana al mundo, muestra las vidas de niños y niñas de diferentes países, sus casas, sus escuelas, su alimentación, sus juguetes, sus gustos... Sirve para que los/as niños/as entiendan la diversidad y se sumerjan en otras culturas.
Recuerdo que me fascinó especialmente una niña que vivía en el Amazonas, que decía que le gustaba jugar en el río, aunque había pirañas y caimanes.
Recuerdo que me fascinó especialmente una niña que vivía en el Amazonas, que decía que le gustaba jugar en el río, aunque había pirañas y caimanes.
April 16, 2018
This is a wonderful book highlighting various children from around the world. Each child is profiled and interesting aspects of their lives are shown: their families, friends, favorite foods, customs, religion, dress, toys, what they call their mother and father, schooling, how they write their name in their language, certain other details of their lifestyles, and so much more.
May 15, 2021
“Niños como yo”, es un libro informativo esencial para que el niño pueda tomar conciencia de realidades diferentes a las de él. Presenta imágenes atractivas y representativas de cada cultura de tal forma que el niño pueda ampliar su mente a otros estilos de vida. Muy recomendado por mí, ya que es armonioso y entretenido para leerlo más de una vez.
March 1, 2024
Så rart at dette er første gang jeg ser disse bøkene, de passet jo godt inn i lærerplanen når jeg var liten. Ganske så utdatert nå, men deler kan gjerne brukes i undervisningen i dag også, men da må de beukes ganske så bevisst for å ikke danne feil form for steriotypier. En flott tanke i sin tid tenker jeg. Eventyrene må jo gjerne brukes i en god kontekst, korte og fine.
January 2, 2017
One of my favourite books from my childhood. I remember being so excited reading about other children around the world and how they live. I re-read it as my first book of 2017 and it's still as good. Every child should read this.
June 19, 2017
My kids loved this, but it needs to be updated. :) Very 90's feel to it...certainly the U.S. children pictured today would look very different, so I wonder what inaccuracies there are about countries I know less about.
August 20, 2020
This book covers children all over the world and their daily life (clothes, beliefs, likes, family, home life, food, etc). It will show different poverty levels and struggles people face all over the world.
March 23, 2025
My 6 year old's review:
This book is so awesome, I will give it a 20 [star rating]. It was so awesome. Mr favourite was Daisuke from Japan.
My review:
This book is a great one to read one spread each evening. We've had so much fun, and my little one is sad to finish it.
This book is so awesome, I will give it a 20 [star rating]. It was so awesome. Mr favourite was Daisuke from Japan.
My review:
This book is a great one to read one spread each evening. We've had so much fun, and my little one is sad to finish it.
800-899-literature
December 3, 2019305.2
200-299-religion
December 9, 2019205.2
January 7, 2022
I love it.... Habe es als kleines Kind geliebt
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews