Be My Neighbor by Maya Ajmera

Be My Neighbor Reviews

• 
  Christy

  Around the world, children live in community with others, sharing homes, resources, and experiences with their neighbors. This book celebrates what it means to be a neighbor the whole world over -- from Vietnam to the United States, Austria to Kenya and everywhere in between.
• 
  Stacie

  Good little kids book about neighborhoods and what they mean to the people who live there.
• 
  Hana Sm.

  A book that shows people from around the globe: different types of homes, different schools, places to worship, places to play, places to shop, modes of transportation, special events, and children helping out their family/school/community.
  
  On page 6 there is a photo of a neighborhood in the USA. I found the photo interesting but realistic because there was TRASH in the street and on the sidewalk! But the photographer didn't try to hide it. The neighborhood looks like New York City.
  
  On the same page is a village in Canada at the bottom of a snow-covered mountain near the ocean. I would be concerned about an avalanche. I can't believe that people would want to live there.
  
  On page 10, *I found it interesting that they showed a house in Turkey But the funny thing is that the children in front of the stone house look straight-up European. Three of the girls have medium brown hair and one girl is blonde.
  
  On the same page, they show a house in the Bahamas. Now most of the time when you hear about people in the Caribbean, you think about Black people. HOWEVER, the two girls in front of the house are White! I didn't think that any White people lived in the Bahamas.
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  These are some of the surprises that you find throughout this book. This goes to show that when you think you know a lot about a country, but sometimes you really don't. I like books that are somewhat unpredictable. I would use this book to teach my class about how different people live around the globe. We could choose one or more pictures to journal about. I imagine that some of the students would write about what it would be like living there.
• 
  Tim

  Various characteristics of neightborhoods are intoduced in this Global literature book. This book can be part of of teaching the concepts of neighborhoods. The book has an introduction from Fred Rogers. He discusses that although we may live in different neighborhoods all over the world, we are all human beings and we all need to care for one another. This book would be a great nonficiton book for younger students. There are large photographs and simple words for each page in the book. The photgraphs are labeled with what country you find the people pictured. There are more words for students to read but you could just talk through the story and read parts. There are more books like this by this author. Well worth searching for more books in this format.
• 
  Savannah

  Very informative book.
  It covers whether or not you live in a village, town or big city
  Made up of lots of different people
  Different types of home- to keep you cool or warm, comfortable, dry and safe. Made of wood, brick, glass, mud, grass, or rocks.
  Schools- large or one room, house,
  Places of worship- cathedral, synagogue, or mosque, temple or home
  Places to play- parks, streets, backyards, lake, river, ocean, swimming pools
  Places to but things you need- markets, restaurants, shopping malls, grocery stores
  Get around town- buses, cars, trains, boats, bikes, walking
  Community responsibility- doctors, police officers, firefighters, mail carriers
  A neighborhood is place you call home.
  
  
  
• 
  Shannon

  Can I be honest for a moment? Mr. Rogers creeps me out. His puppets' mouths don't move. He talks too slow.
  
  But I loved this book. I loved the larger print in green that can be read straight through OR combine with the other details in black (kind of like captions, but better). Some of the pictures are pixelated, but I mostly like that other countries aren't quaintified...
  
  AND there's a MAP!!! How many books have I read about people around the world WITHOUT a map showing where these folks are?
• 
  Miss Pippi the Librarian

  There are two different fonts in this picture book. During storytime, I focused on the large font that was a sentence and ignored the paragraphs on each page. The illustrations are actually pictures from neighborhoods all over the world. The back of the book shows a simple world map with the countries highlighted. Each picture also shares the country where the photo was taken. The end of the book shares the photo credits and other printing information typically seen at the beginning of books.
  
  2015 Storytime Theme: Community Helpers
  
  Reviewed from a library copy.
• 
  Elizabeth

  This is an older book but it is lovely and the message still rings true. The welcoming words of the book are from Fred Rogers. The book is about ways to act neighborly and how those actions transcend the places where we are to actually be global actions. People all over our planet assist their neighbors and celebrate with their neighbors. They educate their neighbors and work alongside their neighbors. All of humanity is building an existence and aspiring for a better life. This book is both humbling and uplifting!
• 
  Kalynda

  So I am looking for books to support my first grade unit on neighborhoods, and I came across this one, which is of course perfect. How did I not think to go straight to those books featuring Fred Rogers, the "won't you be my neighbor" neighborhood expert? The authors do a great job of expanding on his advice, by showing and explaining what a neighborhood is, featuring great photographs from all over the world. It will be the main book of our unit.
• 
  Dr. Laura Meyers

  Beautiful book to use for photographs ... shows various neighborhoods and children from around the world. You could share the entire book or excerpts. USA, Iraq, Thailand, Belize, France, Spain, India, Russia, etc., etc. are all included. The text points to the common ground among each location.
• 
  Stony Point

  Fred Rogers is a social activist and Presbyterian!
• 
  Buxmont Uu

  CC 24