Styling Librarian: International Mindedness Part 1: Authors

I enjoy finding books that help guide discussions on international mindedness/world awareness. I’m going to post something daily about this for at least three days. My first focus is on two fabulous authors, Barbara Kerley and Margriet Ruurs, that I have had visit my school library and adore partially for their world awareness books. (Their author visit presentations are terrific as well!)
In the past four years, my school has become certified as an International Baccalaureate/Primary Years Programme. This has been a beautiful change with staff and students focusing on development of the whole child as an inquirer. International awareness is a key component of PYP as well. I enjoy finding books throughout the year that fit various units and also collecting wonderful title treasures through the years. Here’s a glimpse of terrific books from my opinion:

Barbara Kerley’s wonderful world awareness books:
Barbara Kerley partners with National Geographic for brilliant, simple, world-awareness books with concepts such as what children do during a day around the world, how people find peace, how families get along, and how people get water. There are gorgeous pictures which are connected with a map and picture details at the end of the book. I highly recommend for anyone who wants to provide their children with world awareness situations.
 http://www.barbarakerley.com

One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley

A Little Peace by Barbara Kerley

A Cool Drink of Water by Barbara Kerley


You and Me Together: Moms, Dads, and Kids Around The World by Barbara Kerley

Recently, I enjoyed talking with Barbara Kerley and getting the “scoop” on possible future books, they’re coming! Keep up with her activities by going to her wonderful, interesting blogpage! *Note- I really like Barbara Kerley’s brilliantly written biographies and am quite crazy about The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins in addition to her fiction title Greetings from Planet Earth.

Two wonderful books by Margriet Ruurs:
My Librarian is a Camel: How Books are Brought to Children Around the world by Margriet Ruurs http://www.margrietruurs.com/
Terrific book for prediction and discussion with wonderful pictures, fascinating personal stories for read aloud adventures with people celebrating books around the world.
Summary: Contains photographs, information, and personal stories about mobile libraries and their young patrons in countries around the world, showing some of the unique ways by which books are delivered, including boat, camel, and elephant.

My School in the Rain Forest: How Children Attend School Around the World by Margriet Ruurs. Once again, this is a wonderful book by Margriet Ruurs providing students with examples of various locations that students attend school throughout the world. This is a fascinating read aloud! Summary: Examines differences in school settings around the world in the form of a photographic essay that depicts virtual classrooms and schools that exist on a river, high in the Himalayas, or in the rainforests of Guatemala.

*Note- I also love Margriet’s other books, the Emma book series is an adorable picture book set in addition to some gorgeous alphabet books with hidden pictures. She additionally writes columns for IRA’s Reading Today and is an inspiration for connecting schools around the world through her bookmark project, Global Bookmark Exchange, in addition to helping manage book donations around the world. I had a wonderful experience with a book mark exchange with a wonderful International School in South Korea a few years ago. For more, see this webpage: http://bookmatchmaker.blogspot.com/

I wrote four other posts on International Mindedness/World Awareness: 

International Mindedness: Celebrations

International Mindedness: Authors

International Mindedness: Favorite Read Alouds Part 1

International Mindedness: Favorite Read Alouds Part 2

International Mindedness: Rights and Responsibilities