Wake up, World! A Day in the Life of Children Around the World, written by Beatrice Hollyer and map illustration by Tony Robinson is a captivating book that explores different cultures around the world by using actual photographs.
The book begins by providing a short introduction to eight children, all from different regions of the globe. Each child is given a unique symbol that reflects their individual country. Each symbol appears next to the texts, allowing readers to keep track of which child appears in the picture. The book takes you on a journey through the daily lives of the children. It focuses on the child’s daily schedule of waking up, going to school, eating dinner, playing, etc. “Children all over the world use what they find around them to invent games, try out new ideas, make their own toys and have fun. Some children work hard to help their families. Other have lots of homework. But there’s always time for play.” The book ends by exploring each child’s dreams for the future and providing some further information on each of the different countries.
Curriculum Connections:
Wake up, World! A Day in the Life of Children Around the World could be used as an introduction tool for learning about basic geography. This book can be used for a number of SOL’s such as:
History K.4 (b)- describe places referenced in stories and real life situations
History 1.6-Describe how location affects food, clothes, shelter, etc
History 3.5 (a)- locating and labeling the seven continents
Additional Resources:
* Global Playground Teacher Toolkit– A PDF full of lesson plan ideas for teaching students about culture awareness.
* Play-Doh: Cruising Around the Continents– Lesson plan that uses play-doh to teach the seven continents.
* National Geographic– Explores a wide variety of countries around the world. It provides videos, background information, and a detailed map of each country.
Book: Wake up, World! A Day in the Life of Children Around the World
Author: Beatrice Hollyer
Illustrator: Tony Robinson
Publisher: Oxfam
Publication Date: September 1995
Pages: 48 pages
Grade Range: K-3
ISBN: 978-0805062939