One World, One Day

Kerley, Barbara. 2009. ONE WORLD, ONE DAY. National Geographic. ISBN 9781426304606 [Suggested Grade Levels PreK - 3]

REVIEW

“At dawn, as the sun slips over the horizon, kids around the world get up, wash up, and celebrate a new day.” Kerley has combined simple text with dynamic photographs to create a powerful statement of global connectedness. Based on Peace Corp volunteer experiences in the early ‘80s and continued travels since then, she has been “convinced …that all of us around the world have much in common, and that the more we can embrace our commonality, the more tolerant we can be of our differences.”

This book, with its divergent compilation of photographs and minimal text, is a great read-aloud with the youngest of children, yet also provides additional information in the appendix about each photo for the curious child or adult reader. Each reference has a descriptor and thumbnail photo. There is also a world map giving perspective to the locale of each photograph.

CONNECTIONS

Alike but Different: Take one aspect of the day; breakfast, play, school, transportation, night time, and present what it looks like in different parts of the world. This could be done with drawings and/or be displayed on subject maps. The “play” map would have arrows from location to the picture of the game played. Prepare and eat one of the food items portrayed such as the tofu or rice in China. Create a T-Bar to compare/contrast the various pictures to life in the U.S.

RELATED BOOKS

Other books by Barbara Kerley, illustrated with photos from around the world:

A Cool Drink of Water. ISBN 9780792254898

A Little Peace. ISBN 9781426300868

You and Me Together. ISBN 9780792282976

By Susie Demarest