Lately, Evie has been asking a lot of questions about where we live and our planet. I’m often fielding inquiries from her such as “Is Chicago our city?” “Do we take an airplane to Mexico?” “Is this the way to Granmary’s house??” She loves looking at maps, whether it be the one at the bus stop or the one on my iPhone. She seems to be developing an understanding and appreciation for the world and her place in it, and I want to do whatever I can to foster her wonder and enthusiasm.
So, I was super excited to learn about the new World Atlas from Barefoot Books, one of my favorite publishers of children’s books. We received our own copy the other day, and this afternoon while Mack napped Evie and I slowly leafed through the colorful pages. I showed her Lake Michigan on the international map and told her Chicago was at the bottom of it. It was so cute to watch her process that piece of information!
The maps in this atlas also show animals, people and landmarks found in each region. Evie was terrified of the scorpion on Libya, intrigued by the Monarch butterfly in Mexico and entertained by the dancing girl of the Cook Islands. I showed her Argentina on the map of South America because she has several friends who are originally from there. When she saw the football player hovering over the map of the US she exclaimed, “That’s Notre Dame, Mom!!” But, I got the biggest kick when she asked if the Nenets couple from Siberia were her great-grandparents Mana and Papa.
This World Atlas really captured Evie’s attention and imagination. Rather than making her feel small in a big world, it shows her that the big world is hers for the exploring. I am so grateful our family can now reference this book whenever Evie and Mack have questions about our planet.
Barefoot Books is giving away an atlas every day until November 23. To enter, check out their website at BarefootBooks.com.
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Charlie has been really into maps and atlases lately, too. When we moved to Texas, my mom got him a laminated map of the US and a dry erase marker and he mapped out our route and followed along while we drove. It was so sweet! (Of course, he had some ideas of other routes we should take, mostly involving us driving to all the beaches and doing huge zig zags all over the country!)
This is just the way I was as a little girl. I loved to look at the atlas, National Geographic, etc…You have a future world traveler in your house!
Glad to have found you this morning. We live homemade and simply so I found a kindred space here that you have created. And we like books too. A lot! Thanks for sharing this atlas from Barefoot Books. I’m off to check it out.