Review Detail

OUR WORLD: FRANCE is a cute board book about a young child who lives in France. Bebe goes about their day along with their doudou, such as eating breakfast, counting dogs at the park, and taking a bath. The end of the book summarizes the terms used throughout the book along with their definitions to help children understand what was happening.

What I loved: This was a colorful board book that includes simple phrasing targeted for young readers. The French words include pronunciation guides so that caregivers can pronounce those they do not yet know. The illustrations include lots of details and characters, which give children a lot to look at. The backmatter helps to explain some of how the story pertains to France and define some of the key terms.

What left me wanting more: Black font is used over dark blue backgrounds, which make them pretty hard to read, particularly in low light settings such as bedtime. Each page spread features a different bebe and doudou, which makes it difficult for children to follow the story as a child going about their day and instead shows different snapshots. Since the "name" of Bebe stays the same, this could be confusing, particularly for the youngest readers who are just beginning to follow stories. The book does not touch upon particulars of France, beyond the language and a bit of the food, which is a bit of a missed opportunity to really teach about France or include some key landmarks.

Final verdict: OUR WORLD: FRANCE is a cute board book about a bebe's life in France, with a focus on the language and some of the food.