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Favorite picture books featuring specific geographical locations?


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I'm working on a list of lovely picture books that introduce children to various geographical locations...preferably fiction storybooks. For instance Madeline for France, Ferdinand for Spain, books by Allen Say for Japan, James Herriot's Treasury for Children for England, etc.

 

Do any of you have recommendations of titles you and your children LOVE. In particular, I have NONE for Mexico/Central America/South America. All of the books I've looked at have been Latin America culture in the U.S.

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I like Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling; it's about Chinese immigrants running a general store in Guatemala. Omar Castaneda's books (also about Guatemala) are also nice. I can't remember if any of Alma Flor Ada has any books set outside the US, but see what you can find.

 

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen has written some very evocative books about Tanzania, as has Tololwa M. Mollel. The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa by Dianne Stewart is interesting, and Niki Daly's Jamela books tend to be cute.

 

Peach Heaven by Yangsook Choi is another favorite, set in S. Korea, but alas out of print. Four Feet, Two Sandals is a touching book set in a refugee camp (in Pakistan, I think), about the friendship between to Afghan refugee girls. Rukhsana Khan has other books featuring the Indian subcontinent including Silly Chicken and the much more serious Roses in My Carpets.

 

The Day of Ahmed's Secret brings Cairo to life.

 

I recommend you look at any books about multicultural books for children; your local library probably has several. I have a copy of one that's a bit old called "Our Family, Our Friends, Our World" that has books by geographic area, subdivided by age. I don't think this is the best list ever, but there are some decent leads. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/compubs/booklists/growingupwrld/GrowingUpAroundWorld.cfm

Edited by stripe
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One of DD's favorite books is Erandi's Braids, set in Mexico. For Korea, if you haven't found anything yet, there's a lovely book called The Fire Keeper's Son.

 

Do you have the Five in a Row guides, or Galloping the Globe? Both include picture books set in specific locations to incorporate geography study.

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One of DD's favorite books is Erandi's Braids, set in Mexico. For Korea, if you haven't found anything yet, there's a lovely book called The Fire Keeper's Son.

 

Do you have the Five in a Row guides, or Galloping the Globe? Both include picture books set in specific locations to incorporate geography study.

 

Those books are *perfect*. No, I don't have FIAR or Galloping the Globe. I'll have to put those on my wish list. :001_smile:

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I like Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling; it's about Chinese immigrants running a general store in Guatemala. Omar Castaneda's books (also about Guatemala) are also nice. I can't remember if any of Alma Flor Ada has any books set outside the US, but see what you can find.

 

Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen has written some very evocative books about Tanzania, as has Tololwa M. Mollel. The Gift of the Sun: A Tale from South Africa by Dianne Stewart is interesting, and Niki Daly's Jamela books tend to be cute.

 

Peach Heaven by Yangsook Choi is another favorite, set in S. Korea, but alas out of print. Four Feet, Two Sandals is a touching book set in a refugee camp (in Pakistan, I think), about the friendship between to Afghan refugee girls. Rukhsana Khan has other books featuring the Indian subcontinent including Silly Chicken and the much more serious Roses in My Carpets.

 

The Day of Ahmed's Secret brings Cairo to life.

 

I recommend you look at any books about multicultural books for children; your local library probably has several. I have a copy of one that's a bit old called "Our Family, Our Friends, Our World" that has books by geographic area, subdivided by age. I don't think this is the best list ever, but there are some decent leads. http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/compubs/booklists/growingupwrld/GrowingUpAroundWorld.cfm

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Mama and Papa Have a Store is wonderful, and I'll check out the others!

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This may be too late for your needs, but I highly recommend:

 

Mia's Story by Michael Foreman (Andes mountains, SO beautiful)

Cocoa Ice by Diana Appelbaum (Caribbean)

Monsoon by Uma Krishnaswami (India, another FANTASTIC book)

The Butter Man by Elizabeth and Ali Alalou (Morocco)

My Rows and Piles of Coins by Tololwa Mollel (Tanzania)

Bintou's Braids by Sylvianne Diouf (East Africa)

 

We are using Five in a Row, but I was uncomfortable with the almost complete neglect of the southern hemisphere, so I did a bunch of research and chose these books (and a few others) to add.

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Maybe too late, but a few more to add to your list:

 

Argentina: "On the Pampas" and "My Mama's Little Ranch on the Pampas", both by Maria Cristina Brusca

 

Andes Mtns.: "Chaska and the Golden Doll" by Ellen Alexander

 

Alaska to Argentina: "The Peregrine's Journey" by Madeleine Dunphy

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Neat list, but I disagree with "I Will Never NOT EVER Eat a Tomato" being a book about Japan!!!

 

Yes, there are some mistakes on the list. Leah's Pony is under Arizona and New Mexico, but it's really just about a girl who sells her pony to help out the family farm.

 

Not sure if anyone has mentioned the Holling C. Hollings books, but they are truly about the geography of various regions and are FAB.

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I'm working on a list of lovely picture books that introduce children to various geographical locations...preferably fiction storybooks. For instance Madeline for France, Ferdinand for Spain, books by Allen Say for Japan, James Herriot's Treasury for Children for England, etc.

 

Do any of you have recommendations of titles you and your children LOVE. In particular, I have NONE for Mexico/Central America/South America. All of the books I've looked at have been Latin America culture in the U.S.

 

I love Are We There Yet for learning about Australia. Kane-Miller publishing gets the US publishing rights for foreign children's books. So, they have books from all over the world. You can see them on my website (link below). I don't know if you can find them on Amazon anymore as EDC has taken Kane-Miller books out of the wholesale market. But they truly are great books for learning about other countries and cultures (seeing similarities and differences from our own). On the website, you can view the books by country.

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For Japan:

 

The Boy Who Drew Cats

 

 

For China:

 

The Warlord's Puzzle and others by the same author

The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy

 

Asia and India

 

anything by Demi

 

Africa

 

Anansi stories

 

These are just off the top of my head. I'll try to post more later.

Edited by nestof3
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Oh, and two of my favorite geographical survey books are:

 

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Apple-World-Dragonfly-Books/dp/0679880836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274573031&sr=1-1

 

The Fantastic Flying Journey by Gerald Durrell

http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Flying-Journey-Gerald-Durrell/dp/0755104366/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274573059&sr=1-1

 

Also, here are some teacher resources I have for teaching geography with picture books:

 

Read Around the World with 20 Great Picture and Chapter Books

http://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Great-Picture-Chapter/dp/0439249856/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274572848&sr=1-1

 

** On the "search inside" you can see the table of contents which tells you books for various countries.

 

A Trip around the World

http://www.amazon.com/Trip-Around-World-Barbara-Schaff/dp/1557346003/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274572915&sr=1-1

 

Connecting Geography & Literature

http://www.amazon.com/Connecting-Geography-Literature-Hoven/dp/1557343438/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274572966&sr=1-1

 

** Gives books for various biomes. You can see half of the table of contens on Amazon.

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The Monkey and the Crocodile by Paul Galdone (India)

 

The Turtle and the Monkey by Paul Galdone (Philippines)

 

Caps for Sale (Europe, I think)

 

The Goat in the Rug (Navajo)

 

Bayberry Bluff (Martha's Vineyard)

 

Hedgie's Surprise by Jan Brett (Denmark)

 

The Mitten by Jan Brett (Ukraine)

 

The Hat by Jan Brett (Scandinavia)

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