Review: Tiny Travelers Mexico & Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico

Twofer Tuesday**

Spanish words are peppered throughout a whirlwind tour of Mexico in this “birds-eye,” brief, introduction to Mexican people and culture. Notable landmarks (including El Angel, Teotihuacan, and Yaxchilan) make hurried appearances. In addition, cultural references to wrestling, the Day of the Dead and Mexican food are also included.

I like the idea of this book. The problem, however, rests in the book’s execution. The illustrations lack a unifying core and appear to be done by committee. Notably, while the colors are vivid, the illustrations are cluttered and “read” more like a “find me,” picture puzzle than an introduction to a country and culture. Yes, part of the book’s appeal is the “find me” aspect. In fact, prompts in the book ask you to find things in the picture. For example, one prompt asks you “can you find the jaguar?” [It’s highlighted in a glow, so you can’t miss it.] However, the art sacrifices the learning aspect of the book to make the search work.

Aimed primarily at three to six-year-olds it may hold their attention. The question is, will they learn anything? I’m not sure. The cultural references are fleeting as are the geographic and traditional points of interests. It’s too much and too little at the same time. Simply put, there is no room on my bookshelf.

---

Following the familiar formula of Tiny Travelers Mexico: Treasure Quest, indeed of all the Tiny Travelers titles, the Puerto Rico volume takes us on a highlights tour of the caribbean jewel. Unfortunately, it suffers from some of the same failings as the Mexico title.

First, the good. The illustrations in the Puerto Rico volume are markedly better. Note, the illustrators are the same and they employ the same type of renderings. What makes them better is that the pages are substantially less crowded and have a more unified focus. If a committee was employed to illustrate this book, the committee had a leader and that leader made decisions.

Now, the not so good. The book tries to tackle too much. Think of it as a travel guide that mentions something and goes into virtually no development. Yes, I know this is a children’s book and that this book is meant only as exposure. And, if that is the only thing you’re looking for, a very brief exposure, then you should buy it. The problem is, that it fails to bridge the Goldilocks principle and lands somewhere short. Will it provide a distraction? Yes. Can you re-gift it afterwards or donate it? Yes. And that’s why it gets a Buy, With Reservations.

If you want to purchase a copy of either Tiny Travelers Mexico: Treasure Quest or Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico: Treasure Quest and support my endeavors at the same time, you can click on one of the links below. No extra cost to you, and it will help me out! More books to read, more reviews to do!

Tiny Travelers Mexico: Treasure Quest (Hardcover at Amazon)*
Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico: Treasure Quest (Hardcover at Amazon)

More books for this Age Group can be found here.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing a review copy of these books. The views expressed herein are my own.

Please, leave comments! I love a HEALTHY exchange of ideas. After all, critical thinking is essential to life.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

**Bite-sized reviews to wet the appetite.