If you were me and lived in....

Last year, I reviewed four titles in the If you were me series by Carol Roman, published by Away We Go Media, and these have remained firm favourites as bedtime stories and at other times in between. As a result, I was delighted to be asked to review three new titles:

• If you were me and lived in Australia
• If you were me and lived in Portugal 
• If you were me and lived in Russia

My younger two children, aged 5 and 7, were very excited to receive the books with some flags, pencils and keyrings. 

Each book is a picture book of 24 to 30 pages. Like the previous books, each of these new productions follows a set form. The books have a map of the country and also a picture to explain which part of the world is being described. There is a section about the capital, common first names and the words used for "Mummy" and "Daddy". A page deals with a typical item that one might buy and the currency used. Famous places, typical food, a special annual event and recreations are described. The book explains the word used for school. 

These three books have a little more description and writing than the earlier four books we read. This fitted well for us as the children are older and keen to know more.

One thing that delighted me when reviewing these books, was that my five year old announced that he wanted to write If you were me and lived in England so he dictated to me his book about living here and then illustrated it. This produced some interesting discussion about our national characteristics.

Probably, my only reservation about these books is that the Australia book has a sentence which doesn't fit with our young earth convictions. We used this as a talking point and it isn't something that would stop me using the books.

In my opinion, these are ideal books for children aged three to eight. We have read and reread these as well as using them when talking about particular countries. They are available from Amazon.co.uk ( also available from Amazon.com) as either paperbacks or ebooks. The paperbacks cost slightly different prices: 

• If you were me and lived in Australia £6.05
• If you were me and lived in Portugal £5.93
• If you were me and lived in Russia £5.92

The ebooks all cost a very reasonable £0.77.

I recommend these books. Young children will enjoy hearing them read or for the slightly older crew, reading themselves. They make ideal books to have around and would make a great introduction to a country study.

Disclaimer: I received these books for the purposes of the review. I was not required to give a positive review and the opinions are those of myself and my children.

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