This earnest, engaging, and enriching photo-essay, introduced by Chris and Martin Kratt of PBS fame, celebrates the universality of childhood around the world. Children from Botswana to Canada to Ecuador share the commonality of families, school, play, creativity, animals, and friends. The well-chosen photos unite these themes through clever use of similarities in color and composition. The photo spread on street play shows one big game, with children from India, Cuba, Mexico, and Antigua. Whether in Mongolia or Haiti, kids beam with tender pride as they care for animals. Also special are the scenes that include a sense of place: white-peaked Alps looming over an Austrian playground or a tall palm tree being climbed by boys in Belize. The beautiful, simple, and resonant words and pictures are full of heart and spirit. (Reviewed February 1, 1999)

Kids will be kids, no matter where they live, claims this celebration of the universality of childhood experience. Brief sentences describing activities (playing ball, sharing time with family) are accompanied by color photographs of children from countries around the world. Text and photos share an infectious joyfulness that tempers what could have been a heavy-handed message.

<p>Harking directly back to Edward Steichen's classic Family of Man (1955, 1983) in design and tone, this portfolio of full- color photographs captures children around the world joyfully engaging in common pursuits. The photos, captioned only by their countries of origin, are grouped thematically, linked by a few words of texta""To be a kid means playing ball . . . running races. . . . or playing a board game"a"and depict clean, well-kept young people busy, for the most part, with shared activities. A follow- up essay reinforces the message that the lives, needs, and goals of children the world over are very similar, though the details may differ. Without descriptive notes, many of those details may be lost on viewers, but the theme is a worthwhile one, appealingly presented. (map) (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-9)</p>

PreS-Gr 3-From Antigua to Oman, children from a variety of countries are represented in this attractive album. Two to three photographs on each page show the youngsters engaged in a similar activity. The simple, repetitive phrase "To be a kid means..." flows well as an introduction to each set of pictures and follows with a brief description of the activity portrayed. The large and colorful photographs of mostly smiling children imbue the book with a sense of vitality and optimism. The authors successfully convey the idea that children from diverse cultures remain singularly constant in their creative play and love for family and friends. To Be a Kid is remarkably similar to Ajmera's previous publication Children from Australia to Zimbabwe (Charlesbridge, 1997)-even to the point of including a photograph of the same girl from Ecuador taken at a slightly different angle-and compares favorably with Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley's Children Just Like Me (DK, 1995). However, unlike the latter title, it does not contain any factual information about the countries or cultures represented in the book.-Paul Kelsey, East Baton Rouge Parish Public Library, LA