MY VILLAGE IN AUSTRIA; MY VILLAGE IN INDIA

by Sonia & Tim Gidal ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

In a new series started by the Gidals, a writer-photographer team, these first two volumes should be compared with Peter Buckley's books Cesare of Italy, Luis of Spain, etc., published by Franklin Watts, as they are similar in content, purpose, and both photographic and text quality. As in the Buckley books, the central character for each of these is a boy between eight and twelve and as he talks about his daily life we do get a fairly realistic child's eye view of his part of the world. On the whole the books combine friendliness with frank and graphic illustration, adventure with daily routine and the imparting of social and historical information so as to make a reading experience that is excellent documentary. Dhan, the Indian boy, is perhaps nine or ten and his family is of the Vaisya caste. Written in the present tense, as if the boys were speaking, the stories of both Dhan and the Austrian boy, Seppi, tell us of such divergent customs as climbing for breakfast coconuts- and eating bran mush in the morning; of speaking to an Indian mother in a low, respectful voice- and of keeping silent during Austrian meals; of watching science at work in India's new drive for health- and of visiting the summer chalet. This is only a small sampling; both books contain valuable portraits of lives different from ours and this is enhanced by fine photographs that supplement and illustrate the text.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: My Village Books- Pantheon

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION