“If You Were Me and Lived in…” series from Carole P. Roman and Away We Go Media (Schoolhouse Crew Review)

We received the “If You Were Me and Lived in…” series from Carole P. Roman and Away We Go Media.

Product Links:

If You Were Me and Lived in...Mexico
If You Were Me and Lived in...South Korea
If You Were Me and Lived in...France
If You Were Me and Lived in...Norway (link not available yet

Vendor Contact Information:Carole P. Roman with Away We Go Media (http://www.caroleproman.com)

Age Appeal: Pre-k to age 8

Format: paperback, 22-28 pages

Price: currently priced around $9

Does your family like learning about different countries around the world?

Carole P. Roman has written four books in a fun series, “If You Were Me and Lived in…” about Mexico, France, South Korea, and Norway.  In each book your child will learn:

• Where the country and it’s capital are located.
• Different children’s names.
• How to say mom and dad.
• Information about fun festivals and places to go.
• Some of the foods available.
• And more!

Our Experience:

We enjoy learning about different countries and their cultures, so these books were perfect.  I read the books to them a couple of times and we talked about them.  B and C also spent time looking and reading them by themselves. 

Mama’s Thoughts:

• I thought the “If You Were Me and Lived in…” series was a great series for a beginning study of each country.  I enjoyed having pronunciation guide in the back of each book.  It really helped with the books about Norway and South Korea.  I liked how all the books included the same type of information like food, holidays, and different names.
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Mexico… has received the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award.  It says a lot about the series when one of the books has received an award.
• My favorite books were about South Korea and Norway.  I liked learning about South Korea, because my cousin’s wife is from there and it was interesting to learn a little about her culture.  I enjoyed reading the book about Norway, because I did not know much about the culture.
• B and C enjoyed the books.  It was great that they could read them and have fun looking at the illustrations.
• B has been learning French, so the book about France was a great way for him to learn a bit about the culture.
• C has been learning Spanish, so the book about Mexico taught her more about one of the Spanish speaking countries.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age nine, officially in fourth grade):

I liked the books.  My favorite book was If You Were Me and Lived in…France…, because I am learning French.  I liked learning some of the names you could have if you lived in France, like Hugo, if you were a boy and Jacqueline, if you were a girl.   

I thought the books about Norway and South Korea had a lot of information.  I liked that. 

I liked the books, because they were picture books and you learned about what type of food they ate, what you called your mom and dad, and more.  I really liked that there was a pronunciation guide in the back.

I think these books would be good good for children younger than me.   

C’s Thoughts (girl, age seven, officially in second grade): 

I liked reading the books.  They were really good.  I learned a lot about Norway, like what kind of food they eat, waffles and cream.  I liked the picture on page seventeen with the dogsled.  I also liked the picture on page fifteen with the snow animals.

These books would be good for kids younger and older than me.

Dad’s Thoughts:

I liked the familiar pattern of the books' story that they use from one country to the next. They talk about soccer and toys, they mention schools and family and of course have a map to show where the country of conversation is located. The illustrations are colorful and clearly convey the story line. Kids of all ages will like these books.

At the end of the book I especially liked the listing of native words and their pronunciations. However, I think the books could have been better by specifically mentioning at the beginning, before the start of the story, that this list exists and where it is so kids can look up the different words found throughout the story.

These books are fun to read and look at.

Mama highly recommends the “If You Were Me and Lived in…” series!