Sure, you can find out how to buy your very own Dom Perignon-flavored sorbet or a CD of "Music for Healthy Pets." But you'll also stumble upon objects like the cute little bright green Russian-made PFM-1 antipersonnel mine, "a favorite toy of generations of Afghan children" punished for their curiosity by a double whammy of liquid explosive and tiny blades. On other pages, seemingly innocuous objects--like the sweetly lumpy doll couples made of tree bark by Elliot Chitungu of Zimbabwe--turn out to have a bitter subtext. (Chitungu, who is gay, makes all his couples heterosexual; in his country, homosexuality is a criminal offense.) Other objects are examples of savvy recycling, like the paper made in Malawi from elephant dung and recycled cardboard.

With straightforward descriptions in both English and French, unblinking photographs of young people modeling even the most outré objects, and a Yellow Pages that includes information about little-known charitable organizations worldwide, this is a fun book with a heart of gold. --Cathy Curtis
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