Globalization is a term used constantly, but what does it really mean, and what does it look like to children? Father-daughter team Hugh Roome and Anne Ross Roome tackle these questions by examining trade, manufacturing, culture, history, tourism, war, politics, and pollution in this addition to Scholastic’s “A True Book” series. Traditional text features, such as a table of contents, a glossary and an index, as well as photographs from around the world support the book’s content. The authors diligently attempt to appeal to their upper elementary school audience by including familiar brands such as Apple Inc., McDonald’s, Disney, and LEGO. However, the text seems to assume readers possess a certain level of knowledge about history, geography, and international figures. The narrative itself is not well written and can be confusing. For example, the authors state Disney theme parks have expanded to “Florida, China, Hong Kong, and France,” yet the timeline points out the first park outside of the United States was in Tokyo. It is not clear Tokyo is a city in Japan, and that country is not listed in the narrative. In another example, narrative information is presented out of order compared to the timeline, and there is little clarification as to how the Greek, Roman, and Chinese empires interacted or were related. The inclusion of contemporary figures ranging from Shakira and Adele to Michael Phelps and Bill Gates precludes this title from having a long shelf life. Teachers interested in discussing business, entrepreneurship, and globalization would be better served by using local guest speakers, online resources such as NPR’s video series on how a t-shirt is made, magazines, child-centered fiction, and student-lead research projects. Reviewer: Keri Collins Lewis; Ages 8 to 12.
