People

There are lots and lots of people in the world""; they are all different in diverse ways; and ""isn't it wonderful that each and every one of us is unlike any other."" Illustrating that theme are a plethora of examples from the shapes of noses, to the games people play, to individual inclinations (for solitude or company), to gradations of wealth (""And some of them are rich, although most are not. And very many are desperately poor""). The national variations tend to be overplayed (the English domiciles pictured are a castle and a Kate-Greenaway cottage, the Scandinavian a log compound not seen outside museums), giving kids a ""picturesque"" impression of what the world is like that resurrects some very old-fashioned stereotypes (Russian eating habits are represented, for goodness sakes, by Cossacks carrying flaming skewers). And one might ask whether this hodgepodge is really the place to tell kids that ""Most people are decent, honest, friendly, and well meaning, but some are none of these""--as exemplified by prisoners behind barred windows. But taken un-seriously, it's nothing worse than a waste of time--especially in a world whose authentic differences kids can see every day on TV. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.