Japan the Land: The Land

Bobbie Kalman - Lands, Peoples and Cultures

by Bobbie Kalman

Describes the variety of Japan's land and people, its cities and villages, agriculture, and industry and transportation.

Genres: Geography, Japan

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Bobbie Kalman (1947 - ) is the award-winning Canadian author of more than 400 non-fiction books.

She established herself as a leading author in children’s non-fiction in the 1980’s and 90’s with two acclaimed series about pioneer life, The Early Settler Life Series (15 titles) and The Historic Communities Series (31 titles), both published by Crabtree Publishing.
She has created many of Crabtree’s most popular series, which also include The Native Nations of North America Series (19 titles), The Lands, Peoples, and Cultures Series (93 titles), and The Science of Living Things Series (32 titles), among others.

Born in Hungary in 1947, Bobbie and her family escaped to Austria during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The family spent several weeks there as refugees before immigrating to North America. A former teacher, Bobbie Kalman taught at both the elementary and secondary levels. She also spent several years working as an educational consultant for several publishing companies. Bobbie holds degrees in English, Psychology, and Education. She is married and has four children and three grandchildren.

Although best known for her non-fiction, Bobbie’s newest book is autobiographical. Released in September, 2006, Refugee Child is the account of Bobbie and her family’s escape from Hungary when she was just nine years old. Written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in October of 2006, the book is told from the perspective of a young girl.

Reviews

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat dry look at the country of Japan intended for children. My kids (6 and 8 years old) found it somewhat dull, unfortunately.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good factual information but rather dry in presentation. My book loving kids lost interest about half-way. Great details and we all learned new information in the pages we finished.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really well done -- for kids, but great reading. I learned something new about Japan: they have armies of life-sized police models stationed around the roads and highways of Japan to keep order. Cool.

[Shelly♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basic overview of Japan - includes historical information as well as land forms, weather and economy. Lots and lots of pictures. It's an older book - more for recounting the past than looking at Japan today. But information still relevant.