If you check out a map, you’ll see that Cuba and the United States are neighbors. They don’t have a border, but if you look closely at the map in this book you will see it is just south of Florida. You can easily see that it’s in the Caribbean Sea and is Haiti’s next door neighbor. If you can spot the star on the map, you will find Havana. Havana is the capital of Cuba. It’s the largest city in this island nation. If you take a close look at Cuba’s flag, you will see it has the same colors the United States has. Can you spot the difference? Ah, yes, it “has a red triangle with a star inside.” There are many things about Cuba that are the same or similar to the United States, but there are also many differences.Do you have a favorite sport? Yours just might be baseball, a favorite of Cubans. Ever heard of José Iglesias or Yoan Moncada? Yep, they are baseball players from Cuba. There are lots of things in Cuba that are different from those in the United States. For example, their money is the peso instead of the dollar. On the other hand the love of baseball is similar. Has it ever snowed in Cuba? Are there several different cultures there like in the United States? You’ll just have to read this book to find out! In this book you’ll learn about the land, the people, the sports, the animals, and you’ll learn many other fun, fascinating things about our neighbor, the Dominican Republic.This is a basic introduction to neighboring countries for our youngest readers. It’s a nonfiction book is prefaced by a table of contents that will set the stage for future nonfiction texts. This is the perfect book to introduce children to other cultures, exploring not only differences, but similarities. The layout pops with photographs and has small Good To Know sidebars and captions that add to the text. For example, one lets us know that “Some Cubans drive U.S. cars that are from the 1950s. Wow!”.” In the back of the book is an index, a glossary (Words to Keep), and additional recommended book resources to explore. This would be an excellent read and discuss book to introduce the topic of friends and neighbors during circle or story time in a homeschool or classroom setting.Age Range: 4 to 9 yearsGrade Level: 1 to 2•► HELLO NEIGHBOR:CanadaDominican RepublicCubaHaitiMexicoGuatemalaThis book courtesy of the publisher (to the library).