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dragonbitebooks's review
3.0
I have had so many requests since I started working at Barnes & Noble for multicultural children's books, and the honest and sad truth is that there are really only a few and fewer that we keep on the shelves, so I was excited to come across this one while shelving books last night. All in a Day all but defines multicultural. It's a fascinating concept: to track eight different characters in eight different countries through a 24-hour cycle. In attempt to weave the depictions together, a ninth character, who is stranded on an uncharted island is created. His is the narrative voice. He calls out to the other eight, describing what they are up to at a given point and pleading for rescue from the island where he has been shipwrecked. Its a fantastical concept; there's no explanation for how these messages are transmitted or received, but that hardly matters.
This book has come to be through the combined efforts of ten author/illustrators, including such famous names as Eric Carle (the others I can only assume are well-known in their own countries but have sadly not carried over to the US). Each of the different characters is taken on by a different illustrator from a different country. Theoretically, then, there may even be a cultural difference in the depiction of the characters and scenes (though in truth, I think that more of a schooling difference as some of the illustrations are more classical, some are more whimsical, but the illustrations tend not to err towards the "native" or traditional). The average days of these characters more clearly explore cultural differences, where the British boy sleeps in a bed and the Japanese girl sleeps on a mattress on the floor beside her parents, the American boy is sent to bed while the parents celebrate the New Year while the Chinese boy stays awake to set off firecrackers and watch the fireworks. The illustrators compare dreams too, specifically those of a Kenyan boy and the Russian.
The sparse text can be difficult to follow, particularly as the narrative character is set out of line of the others and is the most washed-out, making him difficult to see, and almost assumes some prior knowledge of the cultures, which I found difficult. The characters are not labeled with their names but with their countries and the current time and can only really be labeled by the narrator who will mention either their country or what the happen to be doing or may drop a word in their language. Not all of them are labeled on the first page either, so there are strangers whose lives the reader is following, some of them strangers almost through the whole of the book. This is a book I had to read twice to grasp, and I would have liked to have read more and with more focus.
I would have liked more time to digest this book. Its illustrations are its main feature and I think would benefit from some thorough exploration.
In the back of the book are two pages of further explanation and facts for older readers, which I didn't get to read. It included explanations of how the earth turning creates daytime and night and some information about how timezones work.
This will not be my first choice for a multicultural book (it reminds me a great deal of the all-but-wordless Mirror by Jeannie Baker, which I think more easily captures this concept, though that covers only two cultures, and I do not know that Miss Baker has the intimate knowledge of both cultures that these illustrators have with the cultures that they are depicting), but I do certainly appreciate how many cultures the authors capture in a brief 32 pages and the narrator's attempt at a humorous and cohesive narrative to string together the illustrations.
This book has come to be through the combined efforts of ten author/illustrators, including such famous names as Eric Carle (the others I can only assume are well-known in their own countries but have sadly not carried over to the US). Each of the different characters is taken on by a different illustrator from a different country. Theoretically, then, there may even be a cultural difference in the depiction of the characters and scenes (though in truth, I think that more of a schooling difference as some of the illustrations are more classical, some are more whimsical, but the illustrations tend not to err towards the "native" or traditional). The average days of these characters more clearly explore cultural differences, where the British boy sleeps in a bed and the Japanese girl sleeps on a mattress on the floor beside her parents, the American boy is sent to bed while the parents celebrate the New Year while the Chinese boy stays awake to set off firecrackers and watch the fireworks. The illustrators compare dreams too, specifically those of a Kenyan boy and the Russian.
The sparse text can be difficult to follow, particularly as the narrative character is set out of line of the others and is the most washed-out, making him difficult to see, and almost assumes some prior knowledge of the cultures, which I found difficult. The characters are not labeled with their names but with their countries and the current time and can only really be labeled by the narrator who will mention either their country or what the happen to be doing or may drop a word in their language. Not all of them are labeled on the first page either, so there are strangers whose lives the reader is following, some of them strangers almost through the whole of the book. This is a book I had to read twice to grasp, and I would have liked to have read more and with more focus.
I would have liked more time to digest this book. Its illustrations are its main feature and I think would benefit from some thorough exploration.
In the back of the book are two pages of further explanation and facts for older readers, which I didn't get to read. It included explanations of how the earth turning creates daytime and night and some information about how timezones work.
This will not be my first choice for a multicultural book (it reminds me a great deal of the all-but-wordless Mirror by Jeannie Baker, which I think more easily captures this concept, though that covers only two cultures, and I do not know that Miss Baker has the intimate knowledge of both cultures that these illustrators have with the cultures that they are depicting), but I do certainly appreciate how many cultures the authors capture in a brief 32 pages and the narrator's attempt at a humorous and cohesive narrative to string together the illustrations.
sducharme's review
4.0
Famous picture book artists join with Mitsumasa Anno to show what's happening during a 24 hour period in his or her country (US, Japan, Kenya...) and a story ties the scenes all together in the middle of the page. I wish the bottom half were all southern hemisphere countries, to illustrate the differences in weather. The concept of this great and it would tie in nicely with a unit about time and be good for lap reading, but as a story time choice, it would not be engaging. Grades 2+
dandelionfluff's review
3.0
It's a nice book about New Year celebrations all over the world. Very difficult to find truly international children's literature, so this is quite a find! However, the narrative style is a bit much to take in, with a horizontal strip of text running in-between top and bottom rows of illustrations. I'm not sure if reading this out loud in a classroom would be effective, since the illustrations are small. Definitely something to meet at a one-on-one level.
Jack Zipes likes this book a lot, which he talks about in his work [b:Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling|6498661|Relentless Progress The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling|Jack Zipes|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347383166s/6498661.jpg|6690167].
Jack Zipes likes this book a lot, which he talks about in his work [b:Relentless Progress: The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling|6498661|Relentless Progress The Reconfiguration of Children's Literature, Fairy Tales, and Storytelling|Jack Zipes|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347383166s/6498661.jpg|6690167].