Geography is a BIG deal in our house! Eli and Brynne love anything having to do with Geography. Away We Go Media has a great product of books for young children celebrating the countries of Norway, South Korea, Mexico, and France. The books are written by Carole P. Roman and are titled:
My plan was to take these books and focus on one each Friday during the review period. I asked Eli and Brynne to each choose one book to read. I wanted them to each read their book and then tell us five things they learned. I went into the kitchen to fix lunch, but before I got to the kitchen one of the kids said, "Hey mom, did you know …?" Then I was called back out of the kitchen seconds later by the other kid saying, "Hey mom, did you know …?" This went on a few more times before I finally just went and sat down in one of the chairs in the living room where they were reading and nodded back and forth as they took turns announcing to me what they were reading.
When they were done with their books, they wanted to read each other's. Then they wanted to read the other two books right then and there. They finished all four books in about 20 minutes and LOVED them!
As they were reading them and reciting facts to me, I kept thinking of all of the extended learning we could do with the books. As we are currently in the middle of a U.S. Geography study, we didn't really have the time to focus on international geography. But, you can be absolutely sure that we will be holding onto these books to use at any time we study any of the countries covered in the books.
For the review we received all four paperback books, a passport and stickers, pencils, and an inflatable globe. The books are perfectly illustrated for kids. They were bright, engaging, interesting and fun.
The books are all organized exactly the same way, which I thought was a great concept. Doing it this way gave the kids the idea to compare the countries. They knew what to expect in each book and would find themselves saying, "I wonder what the kids names are in France?" or "They call their daddy 'Papa' in France and Mexico" all because they had just read about it in their first two books and realized that they would find answers to the same questions in the next book they would read.
Each book contains a map of the country, shows where it is on the globe, identifies the capital city and other important places, tells some typical names of boys and girls in the country, tells what the mother and father would be called, identifies the type of money they use in that country, covers famous landmarks, shares their favorite sport and important holidays. The final page of the book has a pronunciation guide.
I was very impressed with this series of books and hope that they come out with more soon.
The books are recommended for any children under the age of 10, but even older children and adults will enjoy them. They are very economical at a cost ranging from about the $8-$10 range for the paperback and around 99 cents for a Kindle version. You can follow the links at the Carole P. Roman website to purchase the books.
To read more reviews on these books. stop by the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.
To read more reviews on these books. stop by the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.
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Thank you for your wonderful review. I am glad the kids understood that they are written for them to compare all the different countries! More are on the way! Kenya is on Amazon, Turkey, India, Australia and Russia before the end of the year.
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