My husband and I encourage reading for pleasure as much as possible but for us, reading is also it’s a way to learn about the world. I try to get my kids books that have an added value and can be educational so I was excited when I found out about two new books that teach kids about China in a fun way.
The aforementioned books are published by China Institute in America, a non-profit educational and cultural institution and the oldest American organization devoted exclusively to China. The books are called “This is the Greatest Place!” and “In the Forbidden City”. I received them for review and this is what my kids and I thought:
“This is the Greatest Place!” is a book geared towards kids ages 5-9, a great age to get them exposed to other types of cultures and countries around the world. In the book adorable little animals are learning abut different materials used to build the Emperor’s Palace, such as trees, leaves and earth. The book is great for not only learning about the palace, but also about how man uses nature to create things. I read this to my older kids and they really enjoyed looking at the pictures and learning about the palace and aspects of the Chinese culture.
“In the Forbidden City” is a book for older kids, ages 9 and up. The book is really unique: almost every page opens up to a large panoramic drawing of different parts of the Emperor’s Palace (a.k.a the Forbidden City) and the extremely detailed drawings are something you have to see with your own eyes to believe – just look at the cover, above! (The book comes with a little magnifying glass to help you see all the details). It’s filled with lots of facts, anecdotes and tidbits about the history and people who lived in the palace. This book is not something you can read at once but in small doses so I sat with my 7-year-old daughter one day and together we glanced through the book and we both learned some fascinating details about a world so far from us and life in China many years ago.
Click here to purchase “This is the Greatest Place!” ($9.07) and here to purchase “In the Forbidden City” ($13.97).
I was not compensated for this post. I received samples.
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