Faraway Home

Kurtz, J. (2000). Faraway Home. Illustrated by E.B. Lewis. New York, NY: Gulliver Books Harcourt, Inc.

Brief Annotation: Desta’s grandmother becomes ill at her home in Ethiopia, and her father will be going there to help her. He tells Desta about his life growing up in Ethiopia without the luxuries of life we take for granted. Desta takes his stories to heart and attempts to hear and feel the things he has told her. She then realizes how much he misses his home, and understands the importance of him returning to Ethiopia.
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: Grade 1- 5

Readers who will like this: Students who have begun their interest in different cultures around the world and are seeking an understanding of how other people live.

Response/Rating (1-4): I give this book a 4. The author does a phenomenal job of articulating the differences between life in the United States as compared to those in Ethiopia. It puts a perspective on how advanced our lives are as compared to those in other nations that are still living a very rural lifestyle. The artwork in the book has been done with watercolors making the pictures very vivid and realistic while softening the hardship the father speaks of within the text.
One question you would ask before a read aloud: Has anyone visited another country? How was it different from where you live?