We usually turn to books for research and to reinforce themes. Since the children are already familiar with maps from our travels and nature hikes, we are ready to delve deeper into cartography and study up on maps.
Here are a few picture books we’ve found that work well with our study of maps. What are your favorites?
As the Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps: This is a clever introduction to the concept of mapping. Several animals take a journey and then a lovely map illustrates the landscape.
Me on the Map (Dragonfly Books): A great introduction to the concept of zooming in and out to focus on details or look at the “bigger picture”. This is an essential geography and history skill and an important “habit of the mind” that will help children in their lifelong learning.
Where Do I Live?: This book is very similar in concept to Me on the Map, with more text aimed at a slightly older audience.
There’s a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library): The Cat in the Hat, with some help from Thing 1 and Thing 2, leads Sally and Nick on a cartographic adventure. The rhyming text helps my kids remember concepts and vocabulary, such as scale, legend, and compass rose. This is a fun introduction to map basics.
Mapping Penny’s World: A young girl learns about maps at school and then maps her room for homework. She decides to map her dog’s world, as well, including Penny’s hiding spots, the shortcut to visit another dog, the park, around town, and eventually places Penny might want to visit throughout the world. Although this is a great concept, I found I had to do a lot of the “work” as the reader, filling in the gaps of information for my kids and engaging them with the maps in the book. If your kids love dogs, though, this may be just the “hook” to get them into mapping their world.
Follow That Map!: A First Book of Mapping Skills: When Sally and her friends look for her missing pets, the result is a fun scavenger-hunt in book format. The wide-ranging search takes them from their neighborhood to the solar system. Kids will get lots of practice reading and decoding maps in this interactive book.