Customer Reviews

New Zealand ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of New Zealand (Country ABCs)

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Schroeder and Wolf have put together a lovely introduction to New Zealand with this offering in the series "Country ABCs". The text begins with a greeting in both English and Maori. Throughout the book, a respectful tribute to the Maori origin of the country and the Maori culture is apparent. The native terms, when used for a particular letter, are also written in phonetic spellings that incorporate words even young readers may have mastered. The alphabet letters are clearly designated and attractively highlighted with a border of Maori design.

At the outset, drawings of the country and its placement in the hemisphere are clearly shown. The pictures correspond effectively to the word used for each letter. The landscapes and seascapes are particularly lovely.

The text is clearly written to cover the major aspects of the country: origin, geology, culture, economy and politics. The last of these recognizes that New Zealand was the first to grant women the right to vote. Also acknowledged is the country's long-standing anti-nuclear stance.

This reader, however, was surprised to see no mention of New Zealander, Sir Edmund Hillary, although the first woman to be elected prime minister in 1999, Helen Clark, was pictured. More of the Maori carvings and designs might have been included, but the overall effect of this book as it is, shows a fine cohesiveness in concept, text and illustrations. A brief "On the Web" section is included. A minimal glossary, index and a "To Learn More' bibliography makes this book a useful library skills teaching tool as well.

I purchased this book to use as we study the continents. (We are homeschooling). It gives tidbits of information about New Zealand, just enough for a surface glance at this country. Which is OK for our purposes, but would not be useful if you really wanted to study this country in depth. Also the pictures were drawn or sketched, and did not really give us a realistic look at this country. There are a couple of pages in the back that list all the basic facts about New Zealand, but these are presented in a boring fashion and not interesting to read. Therefore not useful to us, really. They almost seem like they are not part of the book, or maybe like someone's effort to redeem the informative value of the book. While this book will be somewhat helpful for us since we do not need to look at this country that deeply at this time, I would not be inclined to purchase any additional books in the ABC series.

Both the ABC New Zealand and the Maori book are excellent. The ABC New Zealand has colorful pictures and just enough information to hook and hold my third graders' interest. The Maori book is superb, with pictures and text that introduces children (with teacher input) to the Maori culture of New Zealand.
The seller,Topshelf Treasures, was a 5 in dealing with shipping issues that arose.