Around the World: Who's Been Here?

Around the World: Who’s Been Here? is an attractive, informative, and well-organized nonfiction picture book, apparently part of a series by author-illustrator Lindsay Barrett George. The double-spread gouache paintings of select animals throughout are vivid and stunning.

George’s narrative focuses on an elementary school teacher, Miss Lewis, who embarks on a nine-month trip around the world, visiting various nature preserves/reserves/animal sanctuaries on all but one of Earth’s continents. She sends back letters, drawings, and maps to her students, focusing on some representative animals in each region. From an author’s note at the end, it appears that the text may be based on the travels of a real-life educator in Pennsylvania, show more Elizabeth Lewis.

The author doesn’t talk down to her young readers. There’s some sophisticated vocabulary here (e.g., “circumnavigation,” “climes,” “sesamoid,” “neutralize,” “breaches,” and “cartilage”); geographical and directional terms are used, and in Miss Lewis’s letters to her students, some expressions in the native language of each region are used: “Adiós, amigas y amigos,” “Kwaheri,” [Swahili: goodbye], “Sayonara,” and “Zaigian pengyou” [Mandarin: Goodbye/See you later, friends].

The “who’s been here?” part of the book’s title is the question Miss Lewis regularly asks her students in her letters after she has described a strange feature of the landscape, a sign left by a certain animal. Suspecting the kids won’t know which animal left that trace, the teacher always provides the answer in a double-page painting. Near the Tambopata Research Center in Peru, for example, Miss Lewis observes rounded gouges in the clay banks along a river, while in the mountains north of the city of Tokyo, she notices large snowballs near the hot springs. Notes at the end of the book explain that the depressions in the Peruvian riverbank are made by Macaws. They consume the clay to neutralize toxins in the seeds they consume. The mud also provides them with essential salts and minerals. The snowballs in the Japanese mountains are formed by macaque monkeys, who are known to play with and nibble on the white stuff but apparently do not throw it.

For a short picture book, George communicates a remarkable amount of information. I’d purchased the text sight unseen several years ago when I was required to teach primary school social studies—specifically, the major continents and oceans. Unfortunately, I found the vocabulary and the content a little too advanced for most in the age group I was dealing with. I think the book is best suited for eight to ten year olds (grades 3 to 5).

A glossary would have been a useful addition, and if George’s work is in fact based on an actual teacher’s travels, information about the real Miss Lewis would have been welcome. Still, this is a nice nonfiction piece, and I’m glad to recommend it. show less

Traveling around the world will provide you with an abundance of education. Miss Lewis is on a nine-month expedition hoping to see animals that were studied in her science class. She sends her students letters throughout her journey, detailing the animals she has seen. Not only does she describe the animals, but she also teaches the children about the climates and the cultures of the places she has visited. Miss Lewis became the student, learning as much as she could on her journey, but once a teacher, always a teacher.

Genre: Informational
This book is a good example of a juvenile informational book because of its descriptive details through the use of a realistic fictional story. Miss Lewis is traveling the globe and writing back to her class about the wonderful new animals and habitats she is finding. Through the use of pictures and letters, student can learn a lot about different places of the world.
Age App: Primary
Setting: ALL OVER THE GLOBE! She circumnavigates the globe.
Media: The sketches are done with ink while the pictures are created with acrylic paints.

A teacher travels around the world taking pictures of different animals from different countries. She brings back her pictures to show her class about what she's seen and learn.