Good Geography Literature

[charlotteb]

DD is participating in the National Geography Bee this year! She is so gifted in geography and I believe she can go far in it. She seems to learn best from reading though. There were a few questions during her practice test that she said she knew because she had read something about it in a book. So what I'm looking for are books (non-fiction or fiction) that deal with geography. Not a geography textbook. We have read "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Stowaway". So something along those lines would work. Books about different parts of the world or world travel, etc. She is in 6th grade but could read books above hear level as well. Thanks!

[ErinD]

Bumping. :lurk5:

[MorningGlory]

The first thing that came to mind is the set of books by Holling C. Holling (like Paddle to the Sea, Minn of the Mississippi, etc.). We absolutely love these books. Although they might seem "easy" at first glance, they are really quite informative!

 

Another thought I had was the summer reading lists for AP Human Geography. Here is just one example...google for many, many more:

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/members/homepage/36089.html

Of course, these are advanced high school/college-level books. You would certainly want to preview them for content!!

 

Here are a few websites that also might give you some ideas:

http://www.iupui.edu/~geni/GeographyLiterature.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Homeschool-World-Geography-Literature-List/lm/R1AUZ27ONFN1KT

http://blog.richmond.edu/openwidelookinside/archives/category/geography

That last one seems to have books for mostly younger readers...but I saw one called What the World Eats that looks interesting!

 

HTH!

Jetta

[Kalmia]

Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle is an excellent living geography book that covers his voyages from Britain to the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, all around South America, Galapagos, Tahiti, Cape Town, Mauritius, Cocos Keeling Islands, Australia and New Zealand. Make students aware that the worldview of the 1840s was not "pc" and some descriptions of cultures may seem racist to modern ears. My edition is over 400 pages long in small print so it is better for late middle school, high school level readers.