Be My Neighbor

by Maya Ajmera, John D. Ivanko, Global Fund for Children

Complete with a foreword and words of wisdom by Fred Rogers, readers will celebrate diversity as they travel around the world to learn what it means to be a good neighbor in communities across the globe. Around the world, children live in communities with others, sharing homes, resources, and experiences with their neighbors. Through vibrant photographs and simple text, readers will see neighborhoods from Vietnam to the United States, Austria to Kenya and everywhere in between and learn what it means to be part of a community. This celebration of culture, tradition, and friendship will have readers asking “won’t you be my neighbor?”

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Cultural

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Maya Ajmera is the founder of The Global Fund for Children. She is the co-author of several Global Fund for Children books, including FAITH, GLOBAL BABIES, CHILDREN OF THE U.S.A., and CHILDREN FROM AUSTRALIA TO ZIMBABWE.

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Around the world, children live in community with others, sharing homes, resources, and experiences with their neighbors. This book celebrates what it means to be a neighbor the whole world over -- from Vietnam to the United States, Austria to Kenya and everywhere in between.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little kids book about neighborhoods and what they mean to the people who live there.

[Hana Sm. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that shows people from around the globe: different types of homes, different schools, places to worship, places to play, places to shop, modes of transportation, special events, and children helping out their family/school/community.

On page 6 there is a photo of a neighborhood in the USA. I found the photo interesting but realistic because there was TRASH in the street and on the sidewalk! But the photographer didn't try to hide it. The neighborhood looks like New York City.

On the same page is a village in Canada at the bottom of a snow-covered mountain near the ocean. I would be concerned about an avalanche. I can't believe that people would want to live there.

On page 10, *I found it interesting that they showed a house in Turkey But the funny thing is that the children in front of the stone house look straight-up European. Three of the girls have medium brown hair and one girl is blonde.

On the same page, they show a house in the Bahamas. Now most of the time when you hear about people in the Caribbean, you think about Black people. HOWEVER, the two girls in front of the house are White! I didn't think that any White people lived in the Bahamas.
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These are some of the surprises that you find throughout this book. This goes to show that when you think you know a lot about a country, but sometimes you really don't. I like books that are somewhat unpredictable. I would use this book to teach my class about how different people live around the globe. We could choose one or more pictures to journal about. I imagine that some of the students would write about what it would be like living there.

[Cassidy Reed]

Be My Neighbor tells us of the many different ways children live in community with other people. Our neighborhood is a variety of different things and plays a huge role in our lives. All over the world, children are interacting in their communities. A neighborhood is where we live, go to school, play, shop, worship, and work. As a neighbor in a neighborhood, we may have a different culture than others, are a different age than someone else, or may have different beliefs than others. However, neighbors in a neighborhood are very much related because they are sharing the place where they live and feel at home.

In this book, I like the pictures because I am able to see settings from all over the world, and it also tells me where the picture is taken from.

This book teaches children of all the resources they may have available to them in their neighborhood, and shows them how different everyone is, but also how similar everyone truly is sharing the same home.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Various characteristics of neightborhoods are intoduced in this Global literature book. This book can be part of of teaching the concepts of neighborhoods. The book has an introduction from Fred Rogers. He discusses that although we may live in different neighborhoods all over the world, we are all human beings and we all need to care for one another. This book would be a great nonficiton book for younger students. There are large photographs and simple words for each page in the book. The photgraphs are labeled with what country you find the people pictured. There are more words for students to read but you could just talk through the story and read parts. There are more books like this by this author. Well worth searching for more books in this format.

[Maricela Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Primary students will find this story fascinating, especially the large and colorful photographs of people and communities around the world. Through the photographs and detailed captions the book provides its readers with a glimpse into the homes, schools, places of worships, celebrations and markets of diverse communities. This book allows students to make connections between their lives and those of other community groups. Students will also be able to make comparisons between various cultures that are new to them. At the end, there is a world map that highlights the 37 countries that are featured in this book which can be useful in improving students’ knowledge on world geography.

[Savannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative book.
It covers whether or not you live in a village, town or big city
Made up of lots of different people
Different types of home- to keep you cool or warm, comfortable, dry and safe. Made of wood, brick, glass, mud, grass, or rocks.
Schools- large or one room, house,
Places of worship- cathedral, synagogue, or mosque, temple or home
Places to play- parks, streets, backyards, lake, river, ocean, swimming pools
Places to but things you need- markets, restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores
Get around town- buses, cars, trains, boats, bikes, walking
Community responsibility- doctors, police officers, firefighters, mail carriers
A neighborhood is place you call home.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I be honest for a moment? Mr. Rogers creeps me out. His puppets' mouths don't move. He talks too slow.

But I loved this book. I loved the larger print in green that can be read straight through OR combine with the other details in black (kind of like captions, but better). Some of the pictures are pixelated, but I mostly like that other countries aren't quaintified...

AND there's a MAP!!! How many books have I read about people around the world WITHOUT a map showing where these folks are?

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are two different fonts in this picture book. During storytime, I focused on the large font that was a sentence and ignored the paragraphs on each page. The illustrations are actually pictures from neighborhoods all over the world. The back of the book shows a simple world map with the countries highlighted. Each picture also shares the country where the photo was taken. The end of the book shares the photo credits and other printing information typically seen at the beginning of books.

2015 Storytime Theme: Community Helpers

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an older book but it is lovely and the message still rings true. The welcoming words of the book are from Fred Rogers. The book is about ways to act neighborly and how those actions transcend the places where we are to actually be global actions. People all over our planet assist their neighbors and celebrate with their neighbors. They educate their neighbors and work alongside their neighbors. All of humanity is building an existence and aspiring for a better life. This book is both humbling and uplifting!

[Kalynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I am looking for books to support my first grade unit on neighborhoods, and I came across this one, which is of course perfect. How did I not think to go straight to those books featuring Fred Rogers, the "won't you be my neighbor" neighborhood expert? The authors do a great job of expanding on his advice, by showing and explaining what a neighborhood is, featuring great photographs from all over the world. It will be the main book of our unit.

[Winta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts out with Words of Wisdom from Fred Rogers :) He says how people who live far away can also be your neighbors because "Neighbors are people who care about and help one another." This book then shows how neighborhoods from around the world can look different (their homes, school, etc.) and the Great illustrations show how we are all still the same.

[Dr. Laura Meyers]

Beautiful book to use for photographs ... shows various neighborhoods and children from around the world. You could share the entire book or excerpts. USA, Iraq, Thailand, Belize, France, Spain, India, Russia, etc., etc. are all included. The text points to the common ground among each location.

[Olugbemisola Ogutuga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be my neighor improves children's understanding of community.The pictures will help children to understand that though people look different, dress different and live in different homes they still live in neighborhoods, having a common sence of community.

[Amanda Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The theme of this picture book is about family life around the world. I really liked how this picture book shows different parts of a neighborhood in different parts of the world. Also, I enjoyed the pictures that went along with the story, and I liked the map of the world in the back of the book.

[Stony Point · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fred Rogers is a social activist and Presbyterian!

[Buxmont Uu]

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