Russia ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of Russia (Country Abcs)

Frankly, I was amazed at the variety and amount of information that is presented in "Russia ABCs," a children's information book.

On the first page of the text, the reader learns:
Privyet! (pree-VYET)--hi in Russian
Russia is the biggest country in the world, crossing two continents, Europe and Asia.
Almost 145 million people live in Russia, 8th in world population.
The eastern edge is only 51 miles from Alaska.
Plus a map showing Russia's size, with an inset showing Russia's place on the globe)

A is for alphabet: the Cyrillic, named after one of two monks who invented it in the 800s.
B is for ballet, for which Russia is famous.
D is for doll, the hand-painted wooden nesting dolls called matryoshkas.
G is for Grandfather Frost who comes on New Year's Day, bearing gifts.
J is for the jeweled eggs created by Peter Carl Faberge for the czars.
L is for Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, home to 2000 kinds of plants and animals, half of which are found nowhere else.
M is for Moscow, home to 8 million people, most of whom live in tiny apartments with one bathroom and one or two other rooms.
N is for nerpa, a kind of seal that lives on Lake Baikal, and the only seal that lives in fresh water.
R is for ruble, Russia's monetary unit.
T is for taiga, a huge forested region that stretches across northern Russia and filled with spruce and pines.
V is for Vladivostok, an important port city and the last stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The ride takes six or seven days to complete.
X is for exports, with Russia being the second greatest exporter of oil.
Z is for time zones. Russia is so huge that it spans eleven out of the 24 time zones.

This is remarkably informative for a children's ABC book. It definitely belongs in a school library to enhance country studies. Look at how much you learned just from the review, which is just a skeletal look at the contents. My only reservation pertains to the illustrations. Some are really nice, but others look traced. That's the reason for the deducted star. Still--a nice recommendation.

Like the other ABC series, this one adds to any good library. We used this book in our home school to teach my 3 and 5 year old children about Russia. The illustrations are beautiful and the information was interesting.