School is back in session, and Shelter Publications has a book that’s popular among elementary teachers and school librarians. Showcasing diverse housing styles around the globe and offering a glimpse into different cultures, Wonderful Houses Around the World, by Yoshio Komatsu with drawings by Akira Nishiyama, was first released in 1997 in Japan. Katy Bridges and Naoko Amemiya translated it into English for its US release by Shelter Publications in 2004.
The book features clear illustrations of the insides of different homes, where family members are performing everyday tasks. Each illustration includes captions that tell where the house is found, how the surroundings influence its design, what life is like for the family, and how the homes are furnished. This offers a fascinating look at various cultures and promotes understanding and appreciation for lifestyles around the world.
Why This Book is Valuable in Education
Wonderful Houses Around the World is beneficial to the classroom, as it promotes cultural understanding and global awareness, introduces basic architectural concepts, displays side-by-side comparisons of building exteriors and interiors, and encourages critical thinking about living spaces and cultural adaptations. Learning about different cultures is helpful to understanding other people; it increases empathy and curiosity, and it enhances an appreciation for diversity in living conditions.
The book aligns with several educational standards: as social studies curriculum by understanding diverse cultures and societies, in STEM education by introducing engineering and design concepts, and in art education by showing different architectural styles. The photographs and drawings are great for comparing a variety of art forms as well.
Examples of Classroom Use
The book can be integrated into the classroom with a geography lesson, mapping the locations of featured houses. An art project could include the creation of models or drawings of unique houses; a writing exercise could imagine life in different types of homes. Projects and activities could include virtual “world tour” presentations by students, a comparative analysis of housing in different climates, or a design challenge to dream up houses for specific environments.
Testimonial
“Clear, color photo spreads and explanatory paragraphs introduce 10 ‘wonderful houses’ from a variety of cultural backgrounds. A circular tulou in China, a felt yurt in Mongolia, an underground home in Tunisia, and an earthen ‘castle’ in Togo are among the featured domiciles. Each picture has a full-spread color diagram of a structural cutaway with captions that describe architectural details and/or furnishings and indicate the makeup of the family/families in residence. The author’s personal comments enliven the terse text, and his three-sentence introduction mentions his enthusiasm for ‘interesting’ domestic design.”
—Patricia Manning
School Library Journal
Integrating Wonderful Houses Around the World into classroom activities gives kids a lot more than just a peek inside homes. Students learn lessons in social studies, STEM, art, and character building. Teachers will enjoy putting together projects and activities based around this book. True to Shelter Publications’ tagline, “Shelter is more than a roof overhead,” this book—with its thoughtfully created text, photos, and illustrations—offers a rich experience that goes beyond traditional learning.
