Review - Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico

Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico (Treasure Quest)
by Steven Wolfe Pereira & Susie Jaramillo
illustrated by Susie Jaramillo, Meiyee Tan, Abigail Gross & Magali Reyes McDonald
Date: 2019
Publisher: Encantos
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Tiny Travelers is inspired by a world of cultures. The Tiny Travelers “Treasure Quest” Series takes its readers on a fun-filled journey to discover what makes each country special. Each illustrated spread invites children to discover hidden "treasures" - icons, animals, statues, instruments and more - that make up the rich cultural heritage of each country. In Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico, readers journey from the historical city of San Juan with its famous "El Morro" fort, to the beautiful bioluminescent bay in Vieques. Tiny travelers will enjoy getting closer to Puerto Rican culture, making magical discoveries along the way.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book, like the others in the series, features appealing illustrations and interesting facts about the country in question. Unfamiliar words have pronunciation guides, and there are lots of things to look at in the pictures.

I'd like to see some other books in the series deal with less well-known countries. So far, we have two Spanish-speaking ones, which seems a bit repetitive (even though the cultures are different); because language features heavily in these books, there may be the potential for the Mexico book and the Puerto Rico book to be muddled together in some readers' minds.

Still, once this series gets some more titles to round it out, I think it'll be a nice one to introduce kids to the basics and inspire them to want to learn more about the countries in question. All three of the titles I've read so far are fun picture books that are interesting and engaging... both great traits in non-fiction for kids.

Thank you to NetGalley and Encantos for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5

Review - Tiny Travelers China

Tiny Travelers China (Treasure Quest)
by Steven Wolfe Pereira & Susie Jaramillo
illustrated by Susie Jaramillo, Mei Li & Magali Reyes McDonald
Date: 2019
Publisher: Encantos
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Tiny Travelers is inspired by a world of cultures. The Tiny Travelers “Treasure Quest” Series takes its readers on a fun-filled journey to discover what makes each country special.

Each illustrated spread invites children to discover hidden "treasures" - icons, animals, statues, instruments and more - that make up the rich cultural heritage of each country.

In Tiny Travelers China, readers journey from the Forbidden City to the Wuling mountains. From the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai, to the ancient Great Wall of China, tiny travelers will enjoy getting closer to Chinese culture making magical discoveries along the way.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Like the Mexico book in the same series, this little rhyming picture book is a lot of fun for young would-be travellers. Kids gets to explore some famous places in China, as well as learn about some customs and food. Pronunciation guides are included for some words, although the pronunciation guides almost need pronunciation guides of their own (they're not strictly phonetic and some of the letters have accents... so non-Chinese speakers will probably butcher the words if they try to speak them).

Still, the illustrations are charming and fun, and there's plenty to look at in the pictures. (The page with the food even made me kind of hungry!) I'd recommend this one for kids who enjoy seek-and-find books, as well as readers who like learning about different places around the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Encantos for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5

Review - Tiny Travelers Mexico

Tiny Travelers Mexico (Treasure Quest)
by Steven Wolfe Pereira & Susie Jaramillo
illustrated by Susie Jaramillo, Mei Li & Magali Reyes McDonald
Date: 2019
Publisher: Encantos
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Tiny Travelers is inspired by a world of cultures. The Tiny Travelers “Treasure Quest” Series takes its readers on a fun-filled journey to discover what makes each country special.

Each illustrated spread invites children to discover hidden "treasures" - icons, animals, statues, instruments and more - that make up the rich cultural heritage of each country.

In Tiny Travelers Mexico, readers journey from the mariachi filled Plaza de Garibaldi in Mexico City, to the Pyramids of Teotihuacan. From the Lucha Libre ring, to the flower filled boats of Xochimilco, tiny travelers will enjoy getting closer to Mexican culture making magical discoveries along the way.

(synopsis from NetGalley; see it on Goodreads)

This book is actually pretty cute. Setting aside the technical issues with the writing and the sometimes-clunky rhymes, there's actually a lot to like here. The colourful illustrations are appealing, showing different aspects of Mexican life and culture. The seek-and-find aspect may be a little easy for all but the youngest of readers, but older readers will have fun with the Mexican words (the most complicated of which have, thankfully, pronunciation guides). When I got to the end, I discovered another "quest". So readers will probably get at least two readings out of this one, and potentially more if they just want to read the book and enjoy the pictures after they've found all the objects for their stamps.

I think I need to check out some of the other books in this series. If they're anything like this one, they'll be nice introductions to other cultures and places around the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Encantos for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5