A simple introduction to Turkey that may especially appeal to elementary school children who are learning about life in...
Roman (If You Were Me and Lived In …Kenya, 2013, etc.) introduces children to the history, geography and customs of Turkey in this colorful primer.
This entry in the author’s cultural series follows the format of the books that preceded it, which took young readers to Mexico, France, Kenya and other countries. In this case, Roman gives children a brief lesson on the geography of Turkey before moving on to everyday customs. Kids learn about Turkish holidays, landmarks, children’s names and money (at the market, “you would use lira to pay for things”). The book also describes family life and popular toys and games: “Of course, you would love to play soccer, but you would call it football, because you use only your feet. Maybe you would rather play with a doll, which is called a bebek.” In clear and simple language, Roman demystifies customs that many young readers may be hearing about for the first time, such as when she explains: “You would enjoy a feast of borek and doner kebabs. Borek is a delightful pastry stuffed with meat, cheese, or potatoes. Doner kebab is marinated, grilled lamb that is served with a round bread called pide.” Colorful illustrations, depicting activities such as eating borek or visiting a market, convey additional information. The frequent use of "you" encourages children to imagine themselves visiting Turkey, which makes the book a good choice for early elementary school students studying geography or world cultures. And with Turkish cuisine becoming more widely available in American restaurants, the descriptions of food may give readers ideas for dishes they’d like to try closer to home. Taken as a whole, Roman’s series can help kids see that while they may have different names or eat different foods than do their peers in other countries, they have many things in common.
A simple introduction to Turkey that may especially appeal to elementary school children who are learning about life in other countries.Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4819-7984-9
Page Count: 26
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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This guide to Black culture for White people is accessible but rarely easy.
A former NFL player casts his gimlet eye on American race relations.
In his first book, Acho, an analyst for Fox Sports who grew up in Dallas as the son of Nigerian immigrants, addresses White readers who have sent him questions about Black history and culture. “My childhood,” he writes, “was one big study abroad in white culture—followed by studying abroad in black culture during college and then during my years in the NFL, which I spent on teams with 80-90 percent black players, each of whom had his own experience of being a person of color in America. Now, I’m fluent in both cultures: black and white.” While the author avoids condescending to readers who already acknowledge their White privilege or understand why it’s unacceptable to use the N-word, he’s also attuned to the sensitive nature of the topic. As such, he has created “a place where questions you may have been afraid to ask get answered.” Acho has a deft touch and a historian’s knack for marshaling facts. He packs a lot into his concise narrative, from an incisive historical breakdown of American racial unrest and violence to the ways of cultural appropriation: Your friend respecting and appreciating Black arts and culture? OK. Kim Kardashian showing off her braids and attributing her sense of style to Bo Derek? Not so much. Within larger chapters, the text, which originated with the author’s online video series with the same title, is neatly organized under helpful headings: “Let’s rewind,” “Let’s get uncomfortable,” “Talk it, walk it.” Acho can be funny, but that’s not his goal—nor is he pedaling gotcha zingers or pleas for headlines. The author delivers exactly what he promises in the title, tackling difficult topics with the depth of an engaged cultural thinker and the style of an experienced wordsmith. Throughout, Acho is a friendly guide, seeking to sow understanding even if it means risking just a little discord.
This guide to Black culture for White people is accessible but rarely easy.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-80046-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
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American schools at every level, from kindergarten to postgraduate programs, have substituted ideological indoctrination for education, charges conservative think-tanker Sowell (Senior Fellow/Hoover Institution; Preferential Polices, 1990, etc.) in this aggressive attack on the contemporary educational establishment. Sowell's quarrel with "values clarification" programs (like sex education, death-sensitizing, and antiwar "brainwashing") isn't that he disagrees with their positions but, rather, that they divert time and resources from the kind of training in intellectual analysis that makes students capable of reasoning for themselves. Contending that the values clarification programs inspired by his archvillain, psychotherapist Carl Rogers, actually inculcate values confusion, Sowell argues that the universal demand for relevance and sensitivity to the whole student has led public schools to abdicate their responsibility to such educational ideals as experience and maturity. On the subject of higher education, Sowell moves to more familiar ground, ascribing the declining quality of classroom instruction to the insatiable appetite of tangentially related research budgets and bloated athletic programs (to which an entire chapter, largely irrelevant to the book's broader argument, is devoted). The evidence offered for these propositions isn't likely to change many minds, since it's so inveterately anecdotal (for example, a call for more stringent curriculum requirements is bolstered by the news that Brooke Shields graduated from Princeton without taking any courses in economics, math, biology, chemistry, history, sociology, or government) and injudiciously applied (Sowell's dismissal of student evaluations as responsible data in judging a professor's classroom performance immediately follows his use of comments from student evaluations to document the general inadequacy of college teaching). All in all, the details of Sowell's indictment—that not only can't Johnny think, but "Johnny doesn't know what thinking is"—are more entertaining than persuasive or new.
Pub Date: Jan. 4, 1993
ISBN: 0-02-930330-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992
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