Perfect Picture Book Friday - Lala Salama - Celebrating Universal Children's Day

Today is a special Perfect Picture Book Friday.

At the suggestion of Pat at Children's Books Heal and Vivian at Positive Parental Participation, since today is the anniversary of the date in 1954 that the UN General Assembly recommended there should be a Universal Children's Day, we are doing our part to raise awareness of the plight of children around the globe and to promote the welfare of children in the world by posting books which focus on multicultural/multiracial issues, human rights, and/or children who have helped to change the world in some way.  (The actual date of Universal Children's Day is November 20 - we are celebrating the day it came into being!)

I quickly discovered that the books that leapt instantly to mind in this category (Beatrice's Goat, One Hen, etc...) have already been expertly reviewed by others for previous PPBFs.  So I chose a book for younger readers that shows a way of life very different from my own.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Lala Salama: A Tanzanian Lullaby
Written By: Patricia MacLachlan
Illustrated By: Elizabeth Zunon
Candlewick Press, November 2011, Fiction

Suitable For: ages 3-7

Themes/Topics: day-in-the-life, bedtime, lullaby, multicultural

Opening: "Long ago, this morning, the sun rose above our house, spilling light over the hills of the Congo and the lake with the beautiful name, Tanganyika, like a song.  Lala salama, little one."

Brief Synopsis: (From the jacket) The rhythm of the Tanzanian day inspires the melody of the evening's lullaby in this sweet song of family life.

Links To Resources: It's important for children to learn about the world they live in, and understand that not everyone lives the same life they do.  This book offers a wonderful opportunity for children to explore how things in their life compare to things in this book - ask, how are your clothes alike or different from the baby's clothes?  Does your home look like the homes in the book?  How is it the same or different?  Do you take a bath the same way the baby does?  The baby's father works on a fishing boat - what does your father do?  The baby's mother carries him in a sling on her back - how are babies carried where you live, or are they put in strollers or swings?  This baby has monkeys and zebras nearby - what animals live near you?  The story offers a great opportunity to talk about how life is the same everywhere on some levels, and yet very different on others.

Why I Like This Book:  The language in this book is rhythmic, soothing and beautiful - just like a lullaby.  The story takes readers through a day in the life of a family on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.  The gorgeous illustrations give a glimpse of what the scenery is like, how people dress, where they live, what they do.  The story is not long - easily short enough for a very young child, but offers an idea of what life is like in another part of the world, perhaps very different from what the reader has experienced.  This is a beautiful book, perfect for bedtime!

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF bloggers, please leave your post-specific links in the list below.  I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's choices for Universal Children's Day!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

"WHAT!" I heard you gasp.  That's it?

I realize this may be my shortest post ever, but seriously, you have not been in my house this week where life has been a three-ring circus :)  Plus I just realized that somebody had the bright idea of posting the Holiday Contest on Saturday the 15th which is - you got it! -  TOMORROW!  (I don't know who is in charge around here, but apparently she has horsefeathers for brains!)  Honestly, it's going to be pretty much of a miracle if my sample entry is ready by then, because let's face it that's in like 12 hours! so I might be posting the official post and putting up the list and then adding in my sample entry Sunday or Monday :)  Just warning you :))  But I totally can't wait to read everyone's entries!  I hope there are some :)  OK.  Really.  Happy weekend! :)