John King (2) (1939–)

In this informational book, the main idea is to teach the reader how a typical family from Iraq lives. Personally, I enjoyed the book. It was informative and made personal, unlike a didactic textbook that simply spits out information without making the writing and language relatable to me as a reader. For example, the book has little excerpts from a real Iraqi family. One excerpt from the text from and Iraqi girl says, “It’s fun having a large family. There is always someone to play with”. In my opinion this book is a very good informational text because it is made to be relatable to me as a reader although I am unfamiliar with the culture. The book also includes pictures as well such images of the houses that the Saleh-Ali family live in. This further makes this text one that feels more real and less abstract since it is based on a real family. The way that writing flowed was also a positive point for me. This was done by breaking up the book into chapters such as “Meet the Family” which gave information on the Saleh-Ali family. This information included the ages of all the children and explained which family member lived with whom. Another chapter was “Decorations” which went into detail about the different colors that walls are typically painted, and how the furniture is always quite plain in an Iraqi home.… (mais)