Welcome to the World of Mamoko

When I was a child I loved perusing the pages of Richard Scarry's Busytown books. When I began looking through Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski's Welcome to Mamoko, I was immediately taken back to my childhood.

Welcome to Mamoko
by Aleksandra Mizielinska & Daniel Mizielinski

As you open Welcome to Mamoko you are  introduced to the main characters, twenty-four of them. These are the characters you will be observing throughout the book in order to determine what happens to them. Will everyone be able to go to the town carnival? If not, why? Children will have to be very observant in order to follow the story line of each of the characters. First you should choose one character to follow through the book. Turn the page and try to find that character. Look at their surroundings. What are they doing? Where are they and what do you think they are doing? Then turn to the next page and ask those same questions.

The World of Mamoko in the Year 3000
by Aleksandra Mizielinska & Daniel Mizielinski

The World of Mamoko in the Year 3000 - Twenty-eight different characters are introduced to the reader as this book opens. From there all of the characters are seen in seven very different scenes around the community. Text is only present on the first page. The reader is responsible for telling the story. The question, "What does the future hold for Mamoko's next generation?" is posed in order to jump start the readers imagination.

Much like the ever popular WHERE'S WALDO? series, the illustrations are filled with details. In Mamoko's world as the reader turns the page a story unfolds, sans words. This is a great book for building vocabulary and observation skills. I love the fact that words are not on every page. This allows young children to read the pictures and use their words to tell the story. I highly recommend this series of books (three in all to date - The World of Mamoko in Time of Dragons is the third in the series) for children from five to eight to read independently. It would also be great as a lap read with younger children.