Boating down the Zambezi River, flying the historic Aéropostale route, dancing the samba in Brazil, watching a performance at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, and visiting the Colosseum in Rome are all possible this summer—without leaving home. Stock your library shelves with this collection of profusely illustrated titles that will take children from legendary routes traversed years ago to cities and countries both near and far. The books provide a glimpse into past and present worlds and guarantee hours of browsing.
Australia to Zimbabwe: A Rhyming Romp Around the World (Love the World Books, 2015; Gr 4-6) offers an alphabetic tour of 24 countries, each introduced with an illustrated poem. While the verses are silly (intentionally so, and often stretch the rhyme scheme), a clear, colorful map demarcating the different regions of the country, follows each one. Also presented for each nation are pages of photos with paragraph-length captions offering snippets on the foods, native plants and animals, geography, festivals, and peoples, with a focus on those that make each country unique. Readers will appreciate the lists of each location’s “sounds,” featuring popular songs and instruments; the excellent, age-appropriate reading suggestions; and recommendations of related films to watch. Glossaries, alphabets, occasional sidebars, and more are included along with appealing recipes and crafts particular to the culture to try. The spread covering the letters W and X is a world map pinpointing the locations visited.
Featuring a colorful cover of imagined postage stamps, Georgia Cherry’s City Atlas: Travel the World with 30 City Maps (Wide Eyed Editions, 2015; Gr 3-5), illustrated by Martin Haake, delivers vibrant, double-page illustrations of selected major metropolitan areas. A boxed inset presents an introductory description of each city, along with a few fast facts, a picture of the country’s flag, and a challenge to find five of the same image (gold medals in Athens, Russian dolls in Moscow, etc.) over the spread. Kids can mine the map’s images and captions for more information on the location’s history and culture, traditions, well-known residents, iconic structures, famous sites, and geographic features. As they peruse the map of Mexico City, children are encouraged to find out about Frida Kahlo, pop into the Zoológico de Chapultepec, and explore the floating gardens of Xochimilco, while a visit to Istanbul, Turkey, entails making a wish at Basilica Cistern, admiring the Blue Mosque, and taking a boat ride along the Bosphorus Strait, among other activities.
“Travelers are adventurers. Whether they travel on foot, by boat, by car, by plane or by spacecraft, for days or months, even endangering their lives, the journey is toward the unknown. En route they might meet other people, make discoveries, broaden their knowledge, or leave their mark on history.” So begins Alexandre Verhille and Sarah Tavernier’s Legendary Routes of the World: A Pop-Up Book (Little Gestalten, 2015; Gr 2-5), which covers five paths traveled by the intrepid over the centuries: Aéropostale, the Silk Road, Route du Rhum, Route 66, and the 1969 mission to the Moon. Following a spread detailing these courses on a world map (the exception of course, is the Apollo 11 mission, which is noted in its own bubble illustration), each route is given a spread with a pop-up element. For example, the Route du Rhum features a pop-up ship and foldout map detailing this passage from Europe to the Caribbean (and Gulf of Mexico), while the 4,400-mile Silk Road is highlighted in an illustrated map that opens into a gatefold with a pop-up tableaux of travelers passing through the landscape in caravans against a mountain backdrop. It’s a hands-on look at history that will inspire readers to get up and go.
The facts on 20 daring explorations attempted by humankind are detailed in Deborah Kespert’s Explore! The Most Dangerous Journeys of All Time (Thames & Hudson, 2016; Gr 4-9). A chronology (1200–2012), indicating the types of journeys undertaken (polar, ocean, land, desert, sky, and “new frontier”) opens the book, followed by a closer look at selected journeys. For each of these, several pages answer the who, where, when, how, and why questions and include notes on how many miles were traveled, a map, and background on the dangers involved. Passports on the expedition leaders offer images, important dates, and legacy information. Other images include reproductions, black-and-white and color photos, pictures of artifacts, and more. The inviting layout will draw readers into this exciting volume that covers the travels of the fearless men and women who sought new passages, trekked across forbidding landscapes, pioneered the skies, and explored the ocean depths.
Rachel Williams’s Atlas of Adventures (QuartoKids, 2015; Gr 3-5), illustrated by Lucy Letherland, is divided into regions of the world. Under each, three to eight grand adventures—from stunning natural wonders to observe to exciting festivities to participate in—are celebrated. Readers can travel down the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, watch the Northern Lights in Finnish Lapland, meet millions of monarch butterflies in Central Mexico, or do the Haka during Waitangi in New Zealand. More than two dozen additional experiences are illuminated over the book’s illustrated spreads featuring landscapes (Patagonia, Nagano, Grand Canyon), seascapes (Hawaii, The Dead Sea), street scenes (Rio’s Carnival, the Hindu celebration of Holi, Hong Kong’s Lantern Festival), and more. Inset maps mark each location, while two-paragraph-length introductions and captions offer background on the event, activity, and local flora and fauna. The Atlas of Adventures Activity Fun Pack, by Letherland, comes with a coloring book, world map poster, and stickers.
In Williams’s delightful and quirky 50 States (Wide Eyed Editions, 2015; Gr 2-5), illustrated by Sol Linero, the author notes that unlike physical maps, which depict each state’s “roads and rivers,” this book tells each state’s story. On each oversize spread, a large, colorful outline of a U.S. state is depicted, filled with small, captioned drawings featuring important moments in its history, notable geographical features and parks, battlefields, reservations, foods, monuments, and much more. Major cities receive extra treatment in a bubble of highlighted facts and important sites. Framing each map are boxes of information; one offers an introduction to the state, while others provide “key facts” and a chronological listing of “moments to remember.” A gallery of portraits presents prominent sons and daughters including scientists, musicians, sports figures, actors, authors, and others. Families hitting the road may want to consider purchasing Gabrielle Balkan’s companion volume, The 50 States Activity Book (Wide Eyed Editions, 2016), also illustrated by Linero, which, along with suggested activities, includes a map poster and stickers.