The books listed below may be available through publishers, distributors such as bookstores or online retailers, or library systems.
Independent Reading
EASY- The Boy of the Three-Year Nap
- by Dianne Snyder. Houghton Mifflin, 1988
- A humorous Japanese trickster tale about a lazy boy.
- The Children of Nepal
- by Matti Pitkanen. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1990
- Portrait of the day-to-day life of children in Nepal.
- Count Your Way Through India
- by Jim Haskins. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1990
- Readers learn to count to ten in the Hindi language as they take a discovery tour of India's rich culture and beauty.
- Down Under, Vanishing Cultures
- by Jan Reynolds. Harcourt Brace, 1992
- Describes a Tiwi family's walkabout, a spiritual journey and continuous search for food in remote country.
- Japan Is My Country
- by Bernice and Cliff Moon. Marshall Cavendish, 1986
- First-person accounts of life in contemporary Japan.
- An Aboriginal Family
- by Rollo Browne. Lerner Publications, 1985
- Description of an eleven-year-old Aboriginal girl's family, social life, and customs on a former cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.
- An Arab Family
- by Roderick Dutton. Lerner Publications, 1985
- Describes an Arab Muslim's family, lifestyle, customs, and economy.
- The Clay Marble
- by Minfong Ho. Harper Collins, 1991 (Sunburst Edition)
- A young Cambodian girl and her family flee to a refugee camp on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, but the terror continues as the family members become separated from each other.
- A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night
- by Song Nan Zhang. Tundra Books, 1973
- An artist's autobiographical account of recent Chinese history that is accessible to young readers.
- The Night the Water Came
- by Clive King. Thomas Crowell Jr., 1973
- An illiterate Bangladeshi boy survives a cyclone, but life after the storm is confusing.
- A Walk on the Great Barrier Reef
- by Caroline Arnold. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1988
- Describes the fascinating plants and animals which inhabit the Great Barrier Reef.
- China Homecoming
- by Jean Fritz. Putnam, 1985
- The author recalls her childhood in China as the daughter of missionaries and the political upheavals that forced their return to the United States. As an adult, she returns to compare modern China to the China she knew as a child.
- Library of Nations: Israel
- by William Frankel. Time-Life Books, 1986
- Describes Israel's people, history, government, economy, and natural resources.
- Passport to Japan
- by Richard Tames. Franklin Watts Ltd., 1988
- Overview of Japan's geography, people, major cities, food, pastimes and sports, home life and leisure, farming and fishing industries, transportation, arts, education, traditions and government.
- Red Earth, Blue Sky: The Australian Outback
- by Margaret Rau. Thomas Crowell, Jr., 1988
- Describes life on cattle and sheep stations, on a camel farm, and in an opal mining village, and the people's efforts to preserve the ecology and heritage of the Outback.
- Saudi Arabia
- by Martin Molloy. Chelsea House, 1987
- Overview of Saudi Arabia, giving historical background, description of daily life in modern cities and towns and of Bedouin life.
Read Aloud and Reference Books
READ ALOUD BOOKS- The Bird Who Was an Elephant
- by Aleph Kamal. Lippincott, 1990
- A bird visits a village in India, seeing a spice shop and a sacred cow, among other things.
- The Rainbow People
- by Laurence Yep. Harper Collins, 1989
- Twenty Chinese folktales retold.
- Cultures of the World: Saudi Arabia
- by Hunt Janin. Times Editions Ltd., 1995
- An overview of the geography, history, government, economy and culture of Saudi Arabia.
- Exploration into India
- by Anita Ganeri. Macmillan Publishing, 1994
- Explanation of discoveries made in India from the beginning of recorded time to 19th-century explorers, with a postscript about modern India.
- The Minority Peoples of China
- by Margaret Rau. Simon & Schuster, 1982
- Describes through observation and interviews the lives and customs of some of the 56 minority groups of China.