Review: How Much? Visiting Markets Around the World
Review of How Much? Visiting Markets Around the World by Ted Lewin (HarperCollins, 2006).
How much for a rambutan, a durian, or a longan? How much for a llama wool poncho? What about that camel, or that basket of flowers?
Caldecott Honor artist Ted Lewin takes readers on a shopping excursion around the world in a series of deft watercolor sketches. In Thailand, we visit a floating market where shoppers may buy exotic fruits such as rambutan, longans, or the infamous durian (”Eating a durian is like eating vanilla custard in an outhouse.”), or they may stop at a fried-banana boat for a sweet treat. In India, we tour a floral market in the evening, as lamplight reveals smiling faces, bare feet treading over a thick carpet of discarded leaves and petals, and brilliant baskets of flowers. In Peru, a textile market filled with handwoven garments lines a narrow street bisected by a train track, and children dart about only a few feet from the train carrying people to Machu Picchu. In Egypt, we witness camel traders making a deal. And in more familiar territory, we visit a flea market in New Jersey, where people haggle over one another’s discards.
Though most of the settings are exotic and unfamiliar to Western readers, the familiar elements that all have in common are buying, selling, and trading. Children who understand that they can trade money for the things that they want will be fascinated by the kinds of things that other people around the world like to buy, and where they do their shopping.
