Review by Choice Review
Hundreds of international scholars from diverse disciplines and six volume editors contribute to the signed entries of this original and up-to-date encyclopedia that explores the issues that children face worldwide. This set advances the multidisciplinary field of children's studies, bringing together a wide range of research with special focus on the ideas of children's rights codified by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (a document included in an appendix). Organized around the world's most populous geographic regions, the work addresses the most important issues facing children today, including education, recreation, child labor, family, health, legal status, religious life, and child abuse. Following an introduction to the specific region, each volume offers alphabetically arranged entries of varying lengths that summarize and discuss the quality of children's lives in individual countries. Unless information was unavailable or irrelevant, each of the issue subsections is included in every entry, allowing for interesting cross-comparisons.An extraordinarily consistent writing style is maintained across all volumes as each entry places the issues not only within a larger social and cultural context, but also within a historical context. Extensive resource lists including citations for books, videos, Web sites, and organizations conclude each entry. In addition, maps, a variety of tables, and a comprehensive index are included. Although this set offers a broad range of information in concentrated form, its heavy focus on statistical information provided by the United Nations and other international bodies makes it a great resource both for ready reference and for those seeking broad research overviews. It will interest those involved in any discipline that focuses on children's lives. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. R. L. Wadham Brigham Young University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
The United Nations' codification of children's rights has done much to expand our understanding of what is needed for healthy growth and development of children and youth. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children's Issues Worldwide is the first globally focused multivolume reference set offering extensive, up-to-date coverage of these critical issues. Organized by regions of the world, the set has six volumes covering Asia and Oceania, Central and South America, Europe, North America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, and North Africa and the Middle East. The information pertaining to each country includes a national profile, an overview, and uniform sections on Education, Play and Recreation, Child Labor, Family, Health, Laws and Legal Status, Religious Life, Child Abuse and Neglect, and Growing Up in the Twenty-First Century as well as a resource guide that may include films, Web sites, and organizations, as well as suggested readings, and a bibliography. Chapters synthesize current data on key topics such as child-labor laws, kidnapping and gangs, health care, and the strength of the family unit. Each volume has a volume-specific bibliography of print resources and Web sites as well as an index. The comprehensive index is found at the end of volume 6, North Africa and the Middle East. Also in volume 6 are several appendixes, among them the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child. The editor admits that the volumes could not cover all of the world's countries. Since the country names are not listed in the comprehensive index, and there is no comprehensive table of contents, it is hard to understand why Israel is in the volume on Europe and Palestine is in the Middle East volume, while Turkey is in none. Overall, however, this will be an excellent addition to the literature on global children's issues and will enhance understanding of children's lives in a global context. Recommended for academic and large public libraries. Also available as an e-book.--Shonrock, Diana Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
In six volumes, general editor Epstein (educational studies, Wesleyan Univ.) elucidates a wealth of knowledge on major interdisciplinary subjects of a global scale relating to children. Each volume editor covers a region of the world--Asia and Oceania, Central and South America, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa--contributing to the overall level of international scholarship and collaboration required for such a work. Children's rights as enunciated by the UN Conventions on the Rights of Children lay the groundwork for the topics covered here, among them child soldiering and trafficking, education, health, religious life, and growing up in the 21st century. The work's logical organization by region, inclusion of a selected bibliography and an index, and listing of suggested readings, web sites, and both governmental and nongovernmental organizations make it an essential resource. That said, the work's strength--its global focus--is also its weakness. While through currency, scope, breadth, and richness of material it endeavors to cover key concepts, issues, and considerations facing children globally, the depth within each area is necessarily somewhat limited. Epstein's Chinese Education: Problems, Policies, and Prospects (1991) and Recapturing the Personal: Essays on Education and Embodied Knowledge in Comparative Review (2007) advance the significance of scholarship in this area. BOTTOM LINE Clearly written, this is an accessible reference tool for undergraduates; its global and interdisciplinary nature makes it a fine choice as well for graduates, researchers, and scholars seeking to contribute to the field. [Available electronically through Greenwood Digital Collection.]--Marianne E. Giltrud, Catholic Univ. of America Libs., Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
