Vietnam ABCs is a standard ABC book. The cover page list the adviser: a professor of Vietnamese Language and Literature and Eastern Philosophy from Yale University. The opening page of the book is 'Chao em,' how to say 'Hello' in Vietnamese. There is an enlarged map of the southeastern Asian peninsula as well as a world map on which Vietnam is highlighted.
Each page begins with a rectangular grass mat upon which the letter is written. Then, a classic structure is presented, "A is for...B is for..." Each page contains about five sentences on the related topics. Topics oscillate between the obtuse, such as geography, flag and war to the country-specific, Kieu and Quan Ho.
One letter, "C is for costume" elicits a pause. Is it correct to call the style of clothing worn by other people in other countries "costumes?" Why not "C for clothing?" Some other topics are indicative of Asian religion and culture in general, such as zodiac, yin-yang and rice, and not specific to Vietnam. The language page tries to present a vivid picture, describing the tonal nature of the language "almost like singing." There are some phonological spellings of words "Chao em! (chow em)" to guide pronunciation.
In the back of the book are Vietnam statistics, some words in Vietnamese, a glossary and a link to FactHound. One link was to Fact Monster that caters specifically to children and could be helpful in gathering research or writing a report. ( )