HOPSCOTCH AROUND THE WORLD

Hopscotch is a nearly universal childhood game, its history going back at least to Roman times. Here are brief descriptions, diagrams, and step-by-step directions for playing 19 modern variants from 16 countries, with a full-page color illustration showing each game in progress. A few well-chosen geographical, historical, or cultural facts introduce each variation, including the local name of the game (and its translation) and a description of the kinds of objects used as markers. A particularly nice feature is the world map highlighting each country. Sometimes directions for playing one game refers to rules given for another version; though this saves space, the rules would be more useful if they were entirely self-contained. Two diagrams are incomplete- -e.g., the one for the Honduran game lacks the arrows mentioned in the directions. The colorful paintings show evidence of careful research into local landscape, architecture, and dress. A good multicultural resource for elementary schools and children's collections. Bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 8-12)