Written by Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool
Welcome back to the Read the World Book Club.
I’ve been looking forward to our North America studies SO much!! Wanna see why? Check out my vlog below, and let’s get started!
Just joining us?
We’re on a global excursion, using my book, Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time, as our travel guide.
So many North American books await, let’s do this!
Jamie’s Introduction
This week’s vlog is both a introduction AND a North American literary field trip all in one!
I hope you enjoy watching it with your kids (just click photo to view):
A HUGE thanks to Prince Edward Island Tourism for helping Caroline and I dive deep into All Things Anne and L.M. Montgomery during our stay.
Oh my goodness, this trip was a lifelong dream come true and I can’t recommend it highly enough if you have someone who loves Anne in your home, too!
The Challenge
Your challenge is to read at least one book that takes place in North America. And there are over 110 to choose from in this chapter of Give Your Child the World, so I know you’ll find something you love!
Along with your books, here are some YouTube clips to enjoy:
The Videos
Disclaimer: YouTube can sometimes bring up inappropriate ads/suggestions/comments/etc. Please proceed with caution and preview to determine which ones are best for your family.
Just click the picture to be taken to the clip!
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The Recipes
In each post I’ll suggest a few recipes so you can take your global explorations into the kitchen!
Here are a few possibilities to choose from in the days ahead:
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The Printables
Note: If you missed the global book log and other start-up printables for the club, you’ll find those in this post.
Click the image below to download the maps for North America:
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Optional Extras
A few fun extras you may want to choose from (just click the pics):
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Next Stop: Middle East!
Head back to Chapter 9 of Give Your Child the World to choose your books for the Middle East, our next destination!
Where do you and yours have planned for North America? Feel free to tell us in the comments or with #GiveYourChildtheWorld on social media!
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Weekend homeschool links
This is the perfect excuse to pull out our all-time favorite book, Little House in the Big Woods, and take the virtual Little House tour. It is my fervent belief that you can never, never read the Little House series too many times. 🙂
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We are having tons of fun exploring the world with you! Your book is an excellent read, and we truly appreciate the time and thought you put into it. Love just resonates from its pages…thank you for that! ❤
I was a bit disappointed to see how few Canadian books were included in the North America section, almost like those that were included were stuck in as an afterthought. I listened to the podcast on RAR so I know how hard you worked on compiling your lists, so I know the Canadian titles were carefully chosen, but I can’t help but think here might have been more. As a Canadian, I can think of dozens of books just off the top of my head.
My daughter and I will enjoy exploring the US through the books you have chosen (we LOVE your lists and especially love the diversity of your North American picks) but I will also need to choose a few Canadian titles of my own to make sure she understands that Canadian books have value in the world as well.
Would you mind sharing some of your favorite Canadian books? We would love to explore them! Thanks in advance!
Sure!
I picked books that seem to be in keeping with the GYCTW theme of reflecting a country and it’s history. I’m going to separate them into picture books and chapter books/novels, with the understanding that some of the picture books might not be suitable for littles, and some of the novels might be more suitable for tweens rather than early readers. The subject matter of a few is darker – in Shi-shi-etko, a First Nations girl is taken from her family and sent to a residential school; there are a few stories dealing with the internment of Japanese Canadians in prison camps in WWII, etc. So use your own discretion, please.
PICTURE BOOKS
The Cremation of Sam McGee – Robert Service
The Hockey Sweater – Roch Carrier
Shi-shi-etko – Nicola Campbell
Tales from Gold Mountain – Paul Yee
Naomi’s Road – Joy Kagawa
Once Upon A Northern Night – Jean Pendziwol
Waiting for the Whales – Sheryl McFarlane
Til All the Stars Have Fallen – (poems) ed. David Booth
Wild Berries – Julie Flett
The Olden Days Coat – Margaret Laurence
Baseball Bats for Christmas – Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak
The Loon’s Necklace – Elizabeth Cleaver
I Know Here – Laurel Croza
Little You – Richard Van Camp
CHAPTER BOOKS/NOVELS
The Sky is Falling – Kit Pearson
Lost in the Barrens – Farley Mowatt
A Child in Prison Camp – Shizyue Takashima
Elijah of Buxton – Christopher Paul Curtis
From Anna – Jean Little
Underground to Canada – Barbara Smucker
Emily of New Moon series – LM Montgomery
Run – Eric Walters
The Whole Truth – Kit Pearson
Obasan – Joy Kagawa
Hatchett – Gary Paulson
I hope you find something you love!
Thank you so much! Even without this reading challenge, Canadian books are helpful to our family! We’re in the US but my sister married a Canadian and lives in Calgary (but has only a toddler so far so she’s just starting to learn about Canadian picture books as well), so a list like this is a good family-culture project for us as well.
Thanks for sharing your list Carlie! What a treasure to have this to add to the wonderful list in Give your Child the World. I plan to print it out and secure it in my copy!
I appreciate you leaving this list of books, Carlie, and I’ll make a note for them to check out for the next edition of Give Your Child the World. The issue that I found with several of the Canadian books I considered is that they weren’t in print/easily accessible outside of Canada, which made it a challenge.
I can definitely assure you, though, that they ones included were not stuck in as an afterthought. In fact I was still working on the Canadian choices in my final edits–longer than any other chapter as I went back at the last minute with a Canadian friend to try and find a few more to include. Hopefully your list will help make the next version of GYCW that much better, so thank you!
Hi Jamie
We have been really enjoying North America week and learning about the different cultures. The books we have enjoyed so far are, ” Wangari’s Trees of Peace”, “Nukik the Wolf Pup”, ( my boys loved this ),” Brother Eagle, Sister Sky” and we have a lovely one from a friend in Minnesota called “V is for Viking” ( Discover America State by State series). As we are in New Zealand these books are a gem as it teaches my children about different cultures and their history as well. We also enjoy the video clips you post each week Jamie, they are fun and interesting. I especially enjoyed this weeks one visiting P.E.I and ‘Green Gables’. I have been a fan for over 30 years and have devoured the books and the mini series which came out many moons ago with Megan Follows. It is a dream for me to go there too, but a long way from here. I imagine you and your friend Caroline Starr Rose had a fantastic time. Oh I nearly forgot, I also have her book from the library, “May B”, and I am reading it for myself. We homeschool Mums have to have a little reading time to ourselves too! Thank you again for brilliant book recommendations, we are discovering books that I imagine we would never have found otherwise.
Fiona, NZ
So thrilled to hear this, Fiona–enjoy!
We are loving doing the summer reading challenge. The book choices are great, and the recipes suggestions are so yummy. I’m thinking using your book next school year to go more in-depth into each continent for geography.
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So happy to hear this, Emma!