• Age: 7 to 10
• Grade: 2 to 5
• Reading age: 7 to 10

This fascinating look at 16 children's neighborhoods around the world broadens readers' understanding of global cultures.

This unique illustrated map book explores the neighborhoods of 16 real children from around the world. Author Margriet Ruurs, who met many of these children in her travels, tells the story of each child's neighborhood by highlighting the places that are important to them, such as where they live, go to school and play, as well as interesting facts about their lives, including the food they eat, their religious practices and the sights and smells they encounter every day. From big cities, such as Amsterdam and Beijing, to small communities, such as Salt Spring Island in Canada and the village of Komanyana in Zambia, each place is special to the children who live there.

In the book's opening pages, Ruurs explains what a map is and what its component parts are: compass rose, legend, scale bar. Then, each child's story gets its own spread, with Wenjia Tang's playful and inviting maps as a backdrop featuring illustrations of the important places and a legend specific to that map. Each of the maps in the book is based on the child's actual neighborhood. The “Say It!” box includes words and phrases in the child's native language. This book has a wealth of social studies applications: it's both a valuable resource ... and an insightful look at how much children around the world have in common, this book has a wealth of social studies applications. It makes a perfect jumping-off point for projects in which children create their own map and story or do further research on any of the neighborhoods in the book. Back matter includes activities, a glossary, an author's note and a further-reading list.

Margriet Ruurs is the award-winning author of forty books for children. Passionate about literacy, she writes children's and educational materials and conducts author visits and writing workshops at international schools around the world. Her picture book biography A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison won the Canadian Children’s Literature Roundtables Information Book Award and the Crystal Kite Award, and was nominated for several others. Born in the Netherlands, Margriet raised her family in the Yukon, Canada. Today, when she isn't travelling, she runs a booklover's bed and breakfast on Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.

Margriet Ruurs' profile page

Wenjia Tang is a freelance illustrator with an affinity for children's books and maps. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, she turned her attention to illustrating children's books. You can find her work in Under Your Feet and Up & Down. Born and raised in southeast China, Wenjia now makes her home in New York City.

Wenjia Tang's profile page

• OLA Best Bets (Junior Nonfiction), Ontario Library Association

A lighthearted overview of school-day life that will leave readers considering how their routines compare to those of their global peers.—Publishers Weekly (Praise for School Days Around the World)

An easy, enjoyable way to start thinking about similarities and differences around the world.—Kirkus Reviews (Praise for Birthdays Around the World)

A pleasant book to browse through or for simple research, with a diverse cast and population numbers that will make world travelers even of the armchair variety

School Library Journal

This is one of those books that wouldn't last long, as young readers can pour over the beautiful illustrations and get lost in it page-by-page again and again.

Canadian Children's Booknews

Children today have access to global information, but Where We Live offers them the important first steps to becoming an open, curious global citizen.

CM Magazine

A pleasant book to browse through or for simple research, with a diverse cast and population numbers that will make world travelers even of the armchair variety—School Library Journal