Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Sixty crisp, skillfully composed photographs follow children from all corners of the globe through a day, revealing activities that are strikingly similar yet widely divergent in the details. The juxtaposition of images is often remarkable. A photo of a girl waving from the back window of a Pennsylvania school bus appears beside a picture of a child in China's Yunnan Province, whose commute entails crossing a river in a seat suspended from a zip line. Many of the photographers (the images come from numerous sources) use light to dramatic effect: a soft glow illuminates the faces of eight girls in Gujarat, India; sunlight streams through windows as four boys stand at prayer in an Indo-nesian mosque. Supplementing Kerley's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">A Cool Drink of Water) minimal, pithy text (“Recess rocks! And so does lunch”) are substantive concluding notes that specify the locations, provide cultural context for the photos and—most intriguing—offer occasional photographers' perspectives: the photo of the Indian girls was taken in a refugee camp (“They were wonderful and full of laughter despite the terrible conditions”). An arresting, eye-opening compilation. All ages. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

ALA Booklist (Fri May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

In this visually engaging book, former Peace Corps volunteer Kerley brings together excellent photographs of children around the world. Beginning at dawn and continuing through the day until nightfall, the pictures depict young people doing similar things. As different as the children's physical characteristics, homes, foods, schools, chores, games, and activities may be, the rhythm of their day is much the same. The last four pages carry tiny reproductions of the photos along with commentary in the form of captions and photographer's notes in even tinier type. The idea behind the book, the more we can embrace our commonality, the more tolerant we can be of our differences, isn't new. Its expression here is particularly effective, though, because of the high-quality photos and the simple text that provides a continuous thread, drawing diverse images into a single narrative.

Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

As Kerley names daily routines familiar to children of every land--washing, eating breakfast, attending school, etc.--her vivid color photos are presented side by side, inviting comparison. Kerley wisely avoids saddling her text with message, which she instead includes in a back-of-book note: "The more we can embrace our commonality, the more tolerant we can be of our differences."

Kirkus Reviews

Highlighting the universal, this photographic volume uses the scaffold of an ordinary day, from morning till night, to explore children's lives—their preparations for the day, breakfast, school, chores, play, dinner, time with family and, finally, bedtime, with its promise of new adventures in the morning. The photos were taken in countries worldwide, including the United States, which is represented with such varied images as Amish children playing (the text reads "Recess rocks!") and a diverse group of kids in New York City. Unfortunately, the matte paper soaks in the color leaving some photos with a dull tone. The layout changes on every page from very effective double-page spreads to less attractive placements of several photos in vertical narrow slices to other arrangements of two and three photos. The text is brief and accessible, but much of the meat is in the backmatter for adults. Country identifications, meaningful captions, background notes by many photographers and the text on a keyed map appear in very tiny print. A fine concept as a book, but not as attractive as it could be. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

School Library Journal (Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

PreS-Gr 3 Each day, as the sun rises, children around the world awake, wash, eat breakfast, and go to school, then play or work and share the evening with their families. Illustrating the premise that "the more we can embrace our commonality, the more tolerant we can be of our differences," the book's color photos from many countries show youngsters involved in their daily routines, clearly capturing their expressions and involvement with their tasks. Accompanying snippets of text encourage readers to concentrate on the action in each photo. The locations are not identified until the end of the book, where an appended list identifies the photographer and the country in very small print and a map serves as an index to the photographs. While the simplistic narrative lends itself to preschoolers, some images present similarities and differences among various religions that will best be appreciated by children in the older part of the grade range. Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA