Reading books about other places and cultures opens up a previously unknown world for children and adults alike.
Picture books have an added dimension: a visual feast within their illustrations.
Sunny, colorful worlds. Quiet, dramatic worlds. Peaceful worlds. Chaotic worlds.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Giving Our Children the World, I want my children to be world travelers, even when we don’t have the ability to go far from home.
Travel is available to anyone with a library card.
The following is a list of beautiful picture books to help you get started on your journey.
Arctic:
A Small Tall Tale From the Far Far North by Peter Sis
Photo by Heidi Scovel
United States and Canada:
Anno’s U.S.A. by Mitsumasa Anno. If you have never traveled through one of Anno’s wordless picture books, you are missing a special adventure!
You Can’t Take a Balloon Into the Metropolitan Museum by Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman and Robin Preiss Glasser. Another wonderful wordless picture book adventure, this time in New York City.
Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi. A beautiful book introducing children to California’s centuries-old Latino heritage and Mission culture.
Mexico, Central and South America:
Mexico:
Mario’s Mayan Journey by Michelle McCunney
Off We Go to Mexico by Laurie Krebs
Erandi’s Braids by Tomie dePaola
Guatemala:
Mama and Papa Have a Store by Amelia Lau Carling. Chinese immigrants living in Guatemala.
Europe:
Sweden:
Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Yellow Sled (and other titles) by Maj Lindman
Flick, Ricka, Dicka Bake a Cake (and other titles) by Maj Lindman
Netherlands:
The Boy Who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker
Photo from Amazon.com
England:
Madeline in London by Ludwig Bemelmans
James Herriot’s Treasury for Children. This collection of illustrated stories by the author of All Creatures Great and Small is a favorite in our home!
France:
Anatole by Eve Titus. This Paris mouse will steal your heart.
Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock. The rich illustrations make this book a treasure!
Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. Always a classic.
Photo by Heidi Scovel
Spain:
The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf
Italy:
Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice by Claudia Mauner and Elisa Smalley
Madeline and the Cats of Rome by Ludwig Bemelmans
Gabriella’s Song by Candace Fleming
Hungary:
Hanna’s Cold Winter by Trish Marx
Poland:
The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse
Middle East:
Snow in Jerusalem by Deborah da Costa
Asia:
India:
Monsoon by Uma Krishnaswami
The Drum: A Folktale From India by Rob Cleveland
Japan:
A Carp for Kimiko by Virginia Kroll
I Live in Tokyo by Mari Takabayashi. An incredible introduction to Japanese life with lovely, bright illustrations.
Kamishibai Man (and other titles) by Allen Say. Beautiful quiet stories with subdued illustrations.
China:
Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy
Korea:
The Fire Keeper’s Son by Linda Sue Park
Vietnam:
The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland
Africa:
Mama Panya’s Pancakes: A Village Tale from Kenya by Mary Chamberlin
We All Went on Safari by Laurie Krebs
Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions by Margaret Musgrove
The Gift of the Sun: A Tale From South Africa by Dianne Stewart
The Day of Ahmed’s Secret by Florence H. Parry. A boy on the busy streets of Cairo
Photo from Amazon.com
Australia:
This is Australia by Miroslav Sasek. Be sure to check out other titles in the author’s nostalgic children’s travel series.
For older children, find a list of chapter books organized by country here on my blog, Mt Hope Chronicles.
“The world is so empty if one thinks only of mountains, rivers and cities; but to know someone here and there who thinks and feels with us, and though distant, is close to us in spirit – this makes the earth for us an inhabited garden.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Which picture books have taken you and your child on a memorable journey to another country?
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We love pictures books and have gone many places while reading them. I can’t think of any favorite off the bat but I have a huge list of our favorite reads at Goodreads.com, that include picture and chapter books.
Check out my books on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/868358-renee
Thanks for this great post, Heidi–this list is fabulous and a great resource for us!
Jamie ~ Simple Homeschool’s last blog: Around the World ~ One Picture Book at a Time
I love this post, thanks so much. I am always looking for new books to get from the library! Too bad though that there were none about Canada…we live in Canada and we’re going to be studying our own geography this upcoming school year, but I can’t seem to think of any good storybooks that illustrate Canadian geography or culture. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!
Laura @ Getting There’s last blog: A trip to Point Pelee.
William Kurelek has beautiful picture books taking place in Canada, from the prairies to the North. While the content isn’t particularly Canadian, Robert Munsch and Barbara Reid (amazing plasticine pictures) have great books. I haven’t read any of her books, but Maxine Trottier also has children’s picture books that look quite lovely. For older children, there is Ann of Green Gables and Naomi’s Road (story about a girl in the Japanese interment camps).
Hi Laura, I just reviewed M is For Moose: A Charles Pachter Alphabet in honour of Canada Day. I’m not sure how old your kids are but don’t let the ABC bit scare you off, there are a lot of interesting historical / cultural references here for elementary aged kids.
Erin Oakes’s last blog: Richard Scarrys Biggest Word Book Ever – Big- Busy and Full of Words
Great list! For babies and toddlers, we love the Global Babies board book, which shows photos of babies from lots of different countries.
Love your reading list as usual! Can’t wait to check some of them out.
jeana’s last blog: Weekly Wrap Up and The Summer List!
What a great list! We have read some of these. Anno’s stories being some of our favorite. Looking forward to putting these others on our reading list for the summer.
Rana’s last blog: Road Side Assistance, How May I Help You?
Great list! I love exploring the world with my kids through picture books too. For America, I would add:
The Scrambled States of America
How to Bake an American Pie
For Japan:
Basho and the River Stones
Under the Cherry Blossom Tree
Tsunami!
A Carp for Kimiko
For Africa:
Various “Anansi” tales, several retold by Eric Kimmel
If you get a minute, would you be willing to email me with hints on how to download book pics from Amazon at full size without the “Look Inside!” thingamajig? Thank you!
Hannah’s last blog: Hubble 3D!
GREAT list, but I wish you had categorized the “Africa” books by country, too.
I’m so glad I came across this. My family is attending our city’s annual multicultural festival tomorrow and I was hoping to follow up our visit with books about other countries / cultures. I’ll check some of these out for sure.
Erin Oakes’s last blog: Richard Scarrys Biggest Word Book Ever – Big- Busy and Full of Words