Explore Asia

by Bobbie Kalman, Rebecca Sjonger

This informative and easy-to-read new book introduces children to the fascinating and diverse continent of Asia - the largest continent on Earth! Full color photographs and detailed maps highlight Asia's major regions - Northern, Central, Western, Eastern, Southern, and Southeastern Asia. Simple text describes - the major Asian bodies of water and landforms - the climate in Asia - life in Asian forests, steppes, deserts, and other biomes - Asia's natural resources - the differences between rural and urban areas Teacher's guide available.

Genres: Geography

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Bobbie Kalman is the award-winning 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

[Nya Savage · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book is geared towards younger children, I felt the content was overly simplified. This book seemed to focus on defining basic global vocabulary such as 'continent' and directional indicators (north, south, etc.). I was disappointed in that I felt as if I didn't learn anything new about Asia. The book was creative in that it divided Asia into regions and compared these regions, but the information was minimal. I was expecting to learn about animals, landmarks, diets, or more about the varying people of Asia. As a continent, Asia is extremely culturally diverse and this book did not satisfy my expectations. This book may be helpful with ELL students in that it thoroughly defines all associated vocabulary, but I'd follow up by finding them a book that actually provides information on Asia. I don't think Asia can be summarized in such a short book. It can certainly be expressed in an easy to read way, but would've served more justice with a greater length of actual knowledge of Asia. I also wished that the book would've left the new vocabulary as bolded words and only defined such words in the glossary at the end of the book. Students should learn how to read informational books, one aspect being the glossary that should be referenced while reading.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are studying Asia today at Camp Library. This was a great read. The kids enjoyed it. The Middle East was very intriguing for the kids.