Thank you Bella and Harry
for providing me with products to review, free of charge.
These are my own honest opinions.
Travelling the world with children and having them see, feel, touch and experience another culture is priceless. However, it isn’t always possible to pack suitcases and jump on a plane headed to an exotic destination. Fortunately, there are other ways for children to discover what it’s like to be in a different country and to engage them in a way that they become more open-minded and curious about others.
Books such as The Adventures of Bella and Harry are perfect to introduce children to new countries, history, customs, and sights. Lisa Manzione, the author, has written 10 books so far, and 4 more will be released in 2014. In each book, we follow Bella and Harry, 2 Chihuahuas, as they travel with their family to a new destination.
In each book, you’ll find the major sights of the city visited, a little bit of information about the country and its history, an introduction to the traditional food that people eat, etc. All books are illustrated by Kristine Lucco. Each page is full of colors and having been to many of these cities myself, I can attest that the illustrations are done in such a way that the landmarks are very easy to recognize if you’ve seen them before, and I would think that children would also quickly recognize them after having read the books.
For this review, I received the 4 books that were released this year: Let’s Visit Edinburgh, Let’s Visit Rome, Let’s Visit Istanbul, Let’s Visit Jerusalem. Each book is 35-page long and follows a similar format: first Bella and Harry talk about where they are heading, then they visit some of the must-see sights and their family eats some of the country’s traditional food. There are fun bits of information about history and geography. Even though they are written for children ages 5-9, there were things that I learned reading the books as an adult! Each book ends with ‘photos’ of Bella and Harry visiting other well-known landmarks around the country. There is also a short list of words in the language spoken in the country they are visiting.
The one thing that I wish was done a little differently is that it seems that Bella is the one who knows it all and Harry is there to ask questions or make funny comments. It would be nice if in some books Harry was the knowledgeable one but maybe that’s just his character. Still, it seems to me that it might appeal more to young boys if Harry sometimes had a more prominent role.
On the website, you’ll also find 2 great sections: Activities and Tools For Teachers. The Activities section you’ll find a coloring book, Bella and Harry Pack Bag, and my two favorite activities: Word Match and Flag Match. What a fun way to put what kids read into practice! In the Tools For Teachers, there are lesson plans which include a ‘Compare and Contrast’ activity, activities that focus on comprehension and vocabulary, and writing assignment. With each lesson plan, there is a teacher guide. At the moment, they are only available for the earliest published books. Hopefully they’ll keep adding more as new books are being published.
I think The Adventures of Belly and Harry are great stepping stones if you want to introduce your child to other cultures in a fun yet informative way. It can also be a wonderful teaching tools for teachers. It gives kids a good overview of how people live in different cities and they learn about the major sights to visit and the country’s history. I think anything that can pique a child’s curiosity, spark their imagination, and open their mind to the world is a must! And of course, travelling with Bella and Harry is so much more affordable than visiting all these cities in person.
We’re having such a time with race relations now, whites vs blacks, the police force, the Muslim culture, etc, that you have to think starting young really can make a difference. Animals can really help illustrate these cute stories.
Books such as The Adventures of Bella and Harry are perfect to introduce children to new countries, history, customs, and sights. Lisa Manzione, the author, has written 10 books so far, and 4 more will be released in 2014. In each book, we follow Bella and Harry, 2 Chihuahuas, as they travel with their family to a new destination.
For this review, I received the 4 books that were released this year: Let’s Visit Edinburgh, Let’s Visit Rome, Let’s Visit Istanbul, Let’s Visit Jerusalem. Each book is 35-page long and follows a similar format: first Bella and Harry talk about where they are heading, then they visit some of the must-see sights and their family eats some of the country’s traditional food. There are fun bits of information about history and geography. Even though they are written for children ages 5-9, there were things that I learned reading the books as an adult! Each book ends with ‘photos’ of Bella and Harry visiting other well-known landmarks around the country. There is also a short list of words in the language spoken in the country they are visiting.
On the website, you’ll also find 2 great sections: Activities and Tools For Teachers. The Activities section you’ll find a coloring book, Bella and Harry Pack Bag, and my two favorite activities: Word Match and Flag Match. What a fun way to put what kids read into practice! In the Tools For Teachers, there are lesson plans which include a ‘Compare and Contrast’ activity, activities that focus on comprehension and vocabulary, and writing assignment. With each lesson plan, there is a teacher guide. At the moment, they are only available for the earliest published books. Hopefully they’ll keep adding more as new books are being published.
Rachel
Deb E
These books look great, and a great way to introduce kids to travel and different cultures.