Countries: Mack’s World of Wonder

Playful cartoons mix with bright, crisp photography as author/graphic designer Mack gives overviews of select nations on six continents. The highlighted countries—China, India, Indonesia, and Japan for Asia; the U.S., Brazil, Greenland, and Mexico for the Americas—give a decent sense of the varying cultures and terrain of each continent. Unfortunately, the book is let down by writing that can be alternately repetitive (“beautiful” is especially overused, appearing three times each in sections about Russia and Morocco, along with many other instances), overly general, or just dull (“There are many tall buildings in Paris, but none are as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Maybe that is why it is so famous”). The eye-catching interplay of cartooning and photography isn’t enough to offset the text’s weaknesses. Ages 5–up. (Sept.)