Uruguay (Cultures of the World) [Library Binding]

Leslie Jermyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Cultures of the World

Describes the geography, history, government, economy, people, lifestyle, religion, language, arts, leisure, festivals, and food of the smallest country in South America.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 UpTwo browser-friendly books that will provide students with tons of trivia for reports. Each volume covers the countrys geography, history, government, and economy and ends with discussions of leisure, festivals, and food. Both titles are filled with full-color photographs, colorful sidebars (a sonnet by Juana de Ibarbourou, a quote from Dvork), maps, charts, and recipes. Each one ends with a page of fast facts listing the type of government, literacy rate, capital city, major religion, etc. The chapter on the arts is a little weak in both volumes. They gloss over the most famous figures, introducing them by name and occasionally by face, but then quickly usher readers back to the major attraction of the books: learn everything you need to know about Uruguay or the Czech Republic to make a poster and write a report. For libraries needing quick reference books, these are dandy. And they are perfect for kids who have an assignment due tomorrow morning.Herman Sutter, Saint Pius X High School, Houston, TX
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 128 pages
• Publisher: Benchmark Books; 2 edition (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761408738
• ISBN-13: 978-0761408734
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,619,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unevenly written, lots of inaccuracies, April 20, 1999

By 

emcall "bibliophile" (Maryland USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Uruguay (Cultures of the World) (Library Binding)

I awaited the publication of this book with much anticipation. I am Uruguayan and when my American friends ask me about my country I am always delighted to talk about it and tell them about the books on Uruguay that are available in English.

When I read this book I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It is full of mistakes of every kind. Some are obvious typographical errors, some are misspellings (words given in Spanish are misspelled, misinterpreted, or mistranslated). There are cases of photographs that have the wrong caption. There are contradictions in the text. Some historical facts are wrong. There are gross misrepresentations of what Uruguay is about. The names of people, animals, places, and things are wrong in many instances. There are some important omissions. The two recipes given at the end are simply laughable. The bibliography given is extremely scant. The book is full of blunders ("disparates," "ridiculeces," "barbaridades," "barrabasadas," and plain old "bolazos," as we say in Uruguay) that detract from otherwise well written and informative segments.

This book so disappointed me that I cannot possibly recommend it to anybody. If anyone wants to know something about Uruguay I suggest you ignore this book. I would recommend (in chronological order): Marion Morrison's "Uruguay (Enchantment of the World)" (1992); Nathan Haverstock's "Uruguay in Pictures (Visual Geography Series)" (1987); Allan Carpenter's "Uruguay (Enchantment of South America)" (1969); and Lavinia Dobler's "The Land and People of Uruguay" (1965). None of these books is perfect. They all contain some mistakes, but the information in them is, for the most part, accurate. The Morrison and the Haverstock books are still available. The two older titles are occasionally available as used books.

One title that I highly recommend is Tessa Bridal's "The Tree of Red Stars." It is a novel that takes place in Uruguay. (It is not intended for children.) The author is Uruguayan, so she knows what she is saying when she writes about Uruguay. Bridal's book contains the best depiction of life in Uruguay I have ever read in English.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An invented book, November 21, 2005

By 

M. Pinto (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Uruguay (Cultures of the World) (Library Binding)

I am Uruguayan, and I bought this "piece of thing" to give it as a present to one of my friends, I didn't know what I was buying but lies, and uncertain things. Starting; some of the education facts are wrong, then with the society and lifestyles, Uruguay is the only, ONLY country in the world where I've seen that blacks, mestizos, european descendants and others can sit and dialogue for ever racism doesn't exsist at all. more than 50% of women in uruguay are professionals. Families don't choose to send the boys to get schooling more than the girls, that's not true!

Then in the "Return to Democracy" the last paragraph is just a whole lie, I don't know who would write all that.

Then the Language section is just another piece of SH-IT, if this writer would know a little more about the Spanish spoken in Uruguay, I believe the "A simple guide to Spanish pronounciation" on page 82 and 83 wouldn't appear like that. Uruguayans pronounce the "Ll" as "zh" or "sh" when it has a vowel after it, the same sound the "Y" has when it's followed by a vowel. I think she has a very big confusion, because not even Spanish people pronounce some letters like that, maybe when she was pasting the pages together they got mixed up and put this two pages in this book, instead of putting it in the Mexican book of cultures of the world, or should we call it "Cultures of Leslie Jermyn's head," I think the author didn't get the right information, Why you didn't ask the Uruguayan goverment for some help? 'cause Robert Buckman, Elizabeth Coastworth, John Fisher, Rex A. Hudson, Marrion Morrison, Richard Tames and the other authors you list in your Bibliography are not Uruguayans, and I bet they haven't gone there, and if they have, they've gone somewhere else confusing that place with uruguay, like what "happened" to Italian immigrants in the 19th Century when they confused Uruguay for Argentina and vice-versa. Maybe they went to some Island in the Caribbean, or to the coast of South-Africa. I think this book is a BIG BOLASO, DON'T BUY a PIeCE OF PAPER LIKE THIS ONE, GET THE "MI TIERRA URUGUAY" OR "MI HISTORIA URUGUAY" TRUE BOOKS ABOUT URUGUAYAN SOCIETY, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, CULTURE, VALUES, LANGUAGE, GOVERNMENT, etc...

3.0 out of 5 stars Uruguay (Culture of the World), February 6, 2010

By 

Dennis Zadell (Cambria CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Uruguay (Cultures of the World) (Library Binding)

This a a book of breath but no particular depth. It is written in a prose that is slightly stiff,but it is filled with facts that the casual tourist may find useful.