Product Description

The world is full of houses. Big houses and little houses. Houses that stay in one place and houses that move from place to place. Some houses are made of wood or stone; others are made from mud or straw. But all of them are made for families to live in.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56974 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-29
• Released on: 1995-03-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780688135782
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-- A striking photographic survey of housing around the world that will be a real eyeopener for many children. The lush, full-color photos, one to two per page, tell the real story, conveying nearly as much about those who live in these ?- homes as they do about the dwellings themselves. Text is spare, delineating categories to unify the photo groupings (``Build your house with . . . wood or stone or straw or mud or anything at all. Weave it nail it tie it with rope.'') rather than describing the houses. That's done in the index, which is comprised of a miniature of each photo, an identification of the country in which it was taken, and a brief description. A black-and-white map is appended with each location clearly labeled. This is a solid addition for collections that support social studies or multicultural units, but would be equally fascinating to browsers throughout the age group. --Denise L. Moll, Lone Pine Elementary School, West Bloomfield, MI
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"A striking photographic survey." -- --School Library Journal

"One of the best books of the year." -- --Parents Magazine

"Will attract armchair travelers of all ages." -- --Booklist

About the Author

Ann Morris's many books include Families, Bread Bread Bread, Hats Hats Hats, On the Go, and Loving. She lives in New York City.

As a children's book writer, Ann Morris has been able to successfully integrate her varied experiences in teaching young children, travel, writing, and editing. Having grown up in the polyglot public schools of New York City, where each child's ethnic heritage was revealed by his name or by the contents of the lunch box from home filled with sausages, egg rolls, matzos, or pizza, she developed a strong Interest In cultures other than her own. " I'm a gypsy by nature," she says. "I always have my suitcase packed."

She and photographer Ken Heyman once traveled across the United States to document the lives often different families. Both she and the teacher's pupils liked the snake charmer/teacher who taught class in a circus trailer with her favorite boa around her neck. Although Ms. Morris has never tried this stunt he herself, she has taught children in public and private schools in New York City, and adults at Bank Street College, Columbia Teachers College, New York University, and Queens College of the City University of New York. More recently she has been teaching writing for children at The New School.

Ann Morris left teaching to become editorial director of Scholastic's early childhood department. Now she devotes her professional time to writing and all her other time to 11 people watching, music in any and all Forms, cat care, cooking and eating, and travel." All of these experiences, she says, provide material for her books.

In Israel Ms. Morris was caught up in the enchantment of the place as well as the conflicts that are a consequence of its history. One of her books, When Will They Stop Fighting? (Atheneum), reflects her concern about children who have become the victims of these conflicts.

Ann Morris worked with photographer Ken Heyman while producing an award-winning series of sound-filmstrips for young children. Since then the author-photographer team has created several books in a multicultural series for Lothrop, including Hats, Hats, Hats; Shoes, Shoes, Shoes; and Bread, Bread, Bread. Her interest in travel and the arts brought her to the famous Vaganova, Academy, where children of the famous Kirov ballet company are instructed. This resulted in On Their Toes (Atheneum), followed by Dancing to America (Dutton), photographed by Paul Kolnik. The latter book is about one of the Russian children and his family who emigrated to New York, where he now participates in our own School of American Ballet. Her book Karate Boy (Dutton) features her nephew and his friends in karate class. She thinks of this as a "family book" in that it was photographed by her cousin, David Katzenstein. Light the Candle Bang the Drum (Dutton), with illustrations by Peter Linenthal, is about holidays around the world.

Customer Reviews

Informative and Stimulating!
Houses and Homes is a great book to stimulate conversation for young beginning readers! The photos alone are worth a thousand words. I used this book as a lead in for a discussion with first graders about different types of homes around the world. The text is simple enough that they'll read it unassisted over and over. The index in the back of the book, along with a world map, is very informative! It states the specific country where each photo was taken and gives detailed information on the uses of the types of homes shown. The descriptions also include information on the relationships between homes, cultures, and climates around the world. My 5 year old nephew, a beginning reader, would not put the book down. If he wasn't actually reading the book, he was spending time looking at the real-life photos!

Houses and Homes
This is a beautiful book with gorgeous illustrations. I found it very useful in my second grade social studies unit.

Photos are great for discussion!
While the text of the book is not particularly inspiring, it is an introduction to the different ways some people live around the world. My daughter is not yet two but she loves Ann Morris' entire series of books and likes to identify things in each photograph. We use the books to discuss differences and similarities between how we and others live. The photos are obviously dated but I don't believe that alters the impact of what the author and photographer are trying to do. As she grows, we intend to continue to read these books, moving on from identifying simple items to talking about cultures, traditions, environments, geography, and etc. The back of each book contains a map and descriptions of locations/actions for each page and will allow us to talk about where places are in relation to one another. I recommend these books for curious children starting at age 18 months and all the way up into the school years.