A Life Like Mine - Book Review

My local librarian made me laugh today when she asked, "Aren't you in here every day?". That might be overstating the point but it is true that I use our local library often for research and resources for our family.

I wanted to tell you about one book I found that's excellent for families to use during family reading time and to spurn further discussion on missions, missionaries, & other cultures.
























Title: A Life Like Mine: How children live around the world

Produced by: UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)

Published by: DK Publishing

ISBN: 0-7894-8859-0

Pages: 127

Cost: go to www.addall.com for the cheapest cost online

Purpose of the Book: (taken from the Introduction) "There are millions of children, leading different lives, all over the world. You speak different languages, look different, and face all kinds of challenges every day. However, although you live thousands of miles apart, in many respects your needs and hopes are alike.

A Life Like Mine records the courage, energy, joy, and optimism of children from all over the world. Some of the children in this book enjoy every privilege in their lives; others have been deprived of some of their basic rights. I hope you enjoy meeting them and that you discover the similarities between their lives and your own. "

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The book is divided into four major sections:
1. Survival
2. Development
3. Protection
4. Participation

In each section you meet different children and they explain how they live their lives in respect to the topic of the chapter.

For example:

In the section on Survival
-How does this child get and use water daily?
-What does this child eat daily and why?
-What type of home does the child live in?
-How does this child stay healthy in his/her country? (health care)

In the section on Development
-How is the child educated?
-How does the child play?

In the section on Protection
-Who loves and cares for this child?
-Does this child work? If so, where and why?
-Does this child have any disabilities to prevent them from participating fully in life?
-Does this child have exposure to fighting, destruction, and war?

In the section on Participation
-What is this child's identity (name, nationality, & religion)
-How do they express themselves?
-To them, what is a good life?

The book is full of color pictures, small paragraphs, and stats in manageable chapters for families to read over a period of a few weeks. I highly recommend this book to expose yourself and your family to the world, its cultures, and its people. In reading the first chapter on water, my boys were shocked that, in other countries, you could get sick by drinking the water from the sink.

Similar books to consider are the following:


Children Just Like Me: A Unique Celebration of Children Around the World









Celebrations: Festivals, Carnivals, and Feast Days from around the World