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What Jeannie Fulbright, Apologia's Elementary Science Series says: "A Child's Geography is exactly what the homeschooling world has been needing to teach geography, using a living book approach that draws in children... I highly recommend this for geography."
"A Child's Geography really IS the best geography guidebook I've seen for the K-6th grade set. (And I've seen a lot over 10 years of homeschooling!)"
~Holly Johnson, homeschooling mother of 7
"I am always looking for truly excellent, Christ-centered materials. I appreciate the niche you are filling as I have had a hard time finding a Christian, living-book, geography "text" to use!"
~Carrie Austin www.heartofdakota.com ~A Cathy Duffy Top 100 Pick
Mon, June 1, 2009 at 01:15PM from a kind reader, John:
Jetpunk offers challenging interactive quizzes, including a visual quiz that asks you to guess the city by its skyline! Give it a try here.
Thanks John, for the suggestion!
Sat, May 9, 2009 at 11:57AM 
Do you know what He's done through you?
In the past three years, your purchases, your kind recommendations and word of mouth support has provided nearly $15,000 for the world's poor through World Vision.
You've clothed and fed school children in Georgia and Armenia.
You've bought moringa trees for families in Africa.
You've provided micro-loans to families in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawai.
You've supported an education for girls in China.
You've stocked medical clinics and furnished classrooms.
You've bought emergency first aid supplies.
You've bought an ox and a plough.
We are so thankful!
If God can take a couple of homeschool moms, a few words and a dream and multiply it beyond all expectation...think of what He can do with your offering!
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” ~Edward Everett Hale
***************************
Our publisher, Knowledge Quest is giving away 3 copies of
A Child's Geography: Explore His Earth
(Vol. 1)
Drawing to be held on Tuesday, May 12th.
Go to the Knowledge Quest blog and leave a comment to enter to win!
May God richly bless you for your giving and expand your vision for the world He loves.
Wed, April 8, 2009 at 03:48PM ...it's easy to lose your luggage.
If you were one of the fabulously creative, deeply thoughtful folks who I had the privilege of meeting and touring the world with in the workshop last Saturday, and afterwards, in your wild enthusiasm to go into all the world you perhaps left behind some posters? (found in the front row, south end of the room) .... just drop me an email and we'll see what we can do!
Hasn't He made a glorious globe, with glorious people, all for His glory? So, yes... carry on, folks!
All's grace,
Ann
Mon, March 30, 2009 at 08:27PM ONLINE GAMES
Offered online by National Geography, this “spy-like” game is visually very appealing and challenging – stop watch is clicking!
Have a favorite online geography game? Leave a comment and we'll add yours to the list of fun ways to learn!
Mon, March 30, 2009 at 07:15PM compiled by Mary Frances Higuchi --A living book list organized by U.S. national geography standards.
THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Blackstone, Stella. Grandma Went to Market. Houghton, Mifflin Company, 1996. Grandma goes aroung the world on a magic carpet buying things from different countries.
Bogart, Jo Ellen. Gifts. Scholastic In. 1994. Grandma takes a trip around the world and brings back things from Africa, the Arctic, China, etc. for her granddaughter.
Clouse, Nancy. Puzzle Maps U.S.A. Holt. 1990. The author presents a series of puzzles using the fifty states as pieces.
Conway, Celeste. Where is Papa Now? Boyds Mills Press. 1994. Eliza and mother await Papa's return from a trading trip to China, Bombay, and Java.
Donnelly, Judy. All Around the World. Putnam. 1991. Basic concepts of geography. Maps are produced.
Fox. Mem. Possum Magic. Voyager Books Harcourt Brace & Co. 1983.Grandma Poss makes Hush invisible. One day Hush wants to become visible again and looks in different cities of Australia to find the magic to make Hush visible.
Hirst, Robin and Sally. My place in Space. Orchard Books. 1988. The bus driver is surprised to learn that Henry can tell him his complete address, from hemisphere to planet to solar system and beyond.
Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. Alfred A. Knopf.1993. Clara sews a map of the land- a freedom quilt- that she will follow to freedom.
Knowlton, Jack. Maps and Globes. Harper Collins. 1985. (for ages 7 to 10)
Krupp, Robin Rector. Let's Go Traveling. Morrow Junior Books. 1992. The author takes the reader to the ancient world. The reader visits France, England, Egypt, China, Mexico, and Peru. With passport in hand, take a trip and see the sites.
Lauber, Patricia. How We Learned the Earth Is Round. Harper Collins. 1990.
Luenn, Nancy. Mother Earth. Macmillan Publishing Co. 1992. "With simple, poetic language Nancy Luenn has created a timely picture of the earth and all her elements."
Peet, Bill. Chester the Worldly Pig. Houghton Mifflin, 1965. Chester runs away to join the circus to seek fame. At the end there is a lesson on the seven continents.
Petty, Kate. Around and About Our Globe, Our World. Barron's. 1993. Harry and his dog Ralph explore the globe in their hot air balloon. The book tells how countries, seas, and mountains are shown on maps.
Priceman, Marjorie. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Alfred A. Knoph. 1994. Ingredients for an apple pie are obtained from all over the world.
Sweeney, Joan. Me on the Map. Crown Publishers, Inc. 1996. Students are introduced to maps of their rooms, streets, towns, states, and countries.
Taylor, Barbara. Maps and Mapping. Grisewood and Dempsey.1993. Book tells about different kinds of maps --how they are drawn and used and how to understand them.
Weiss, Harvey. Maps: Getting from Here to There. Houghton Mifflin. 1991. Latitude, longitude, map elevations etc.
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.
Cherry, Lynne. The Armadillo from Amarillo. A Gulliver Green Book Harcourt Brace & Company. 1994. An armadillo leaves his home in San Antonio and travels north through the canyons and prairies of Texas.
Fanelli, Jara. My Map Book. Harper Collins Publishers, 1995. The author offers a childlike view of the world, like a map of the bedroom, her tummy, her heart, face, etc.
Rylant, Cynthia. An Angel for Solomon Singer. Orchard Books. 1992. Solomon Singer dreams of things he cannot have.
Sawyer, Ruth. Journey Cake, Ho. Penquin Books Ltd. 1978.
Van Allsburg, Chris. Two Bad Ants. Houghton Mifflin,1988. Geography shown in a creative way. Great for visualization.
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.
PLACES AND REGIONS
4. The physical and human characteristics of places.
Andrews, Jan. Very Last First Time. Atheneum, 1986. Unit on Winter, Eskimos and Canada.
Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno's Journey. Putman & Grosset Book Group, 1978. Pictureless. A journey through meadows, forests, farmlands, villages, and cities of a European country.
Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno's U.S.A.
Badt, Karin Luisa. Greetings! Childrens Press.1994. Author describes how people in different countries greet each other.
Baer, Edith. This Is the Way We Go to School. Scholastic. 1990. A book about children around the world.
Bial, Raymond. Amish Home. Houghton Mifflin Company. 1993. Bial's lyrical photographs and text depict homes, traditions, and handiworks of the Amish.
Bolton, Janet. My Grandmother's Patchwork Quilt. Delacorte Press. 1993. Grandmother tells of her daily life on the farm as the patchwork quilt takes shape.
Browne, Rollo. A Family in Australia and An Aboriginal Family. Lerner. 1987. Readers visit Northern Territory with a bauxite miner and an 11 year old living in a remote area. These are lifestyles that are exceptions.
Bunting, Eve. Market Day. Joanna Cotler Books. 1996. Based on her memories of growing up in Ireland, the author describes the sights and sounds of market days.
Chester, Jonathan. A for Antarctica. Tricycle Press. 1995. The author provides the reader with photographs and text of Antarctica.
Chin-Lee, Cynthia. A is for Asia. Orchard Books, New York, 1997. Text and illustrations describes the places of Asia including events, foods, animals, crafts and traditions.
Cooney, Barbara. Island Boy. Viking, 1988. Life of Matthias, who grew up on Tibbetts Island in 19c. Maine, went to sea, and returned home to live out his days on the island.
Cooney, Barbara. Miss Rumphius. Viking, 1982. Story is about the "Lupine Lady" from Maine who did something to make the world more beautiful.
Flournoy, Valerie. The Patchwork Quilt. Dial Books for Young Readers.1985. Tanya watches her grandmother make a quilt while listening to her stories. one day Tanya's grandmother becomes ill. Tanya thinks of a way to finish Grandma's masterpiece.
Friedman, Ina R. How My Parents Learned to Eat. Houghton Mifflin, 1984. A girl tells of the courtship of her parents (an American sailor and a Japanese schoolgirl) and explains why she eats with both chopsticks and silverware.
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves. Harper and Row, 1972.
Good, Merle. Amos and Susie an Amish Story. Good Books. 1993. The author takes the reader through 12 months of the Amish culture.
Hirschi, Ron. People of Salmon and Cedar. Cobblehill Books/Dutton. 1996. The Indian people of the Northwest coast hold on to their cultural traditions respecting the salmon and the cedar.
Holling, Clancy. Minn of the Mississippi and Paddle-To-the-Sea.
Krasilovsky, Phyllis. The Cow Who Fell in the Canal. Doubleday & Co., Inc. 1988. Hendrika the cow lived on a farm and wanted to see what it was like to live in the city.
Joseph, Lynn. An Island Christmas. Clarion Books. 1992. The book describes celebrating Christmas in the Caribbean.
Knight, Margy Burns. Talking Walls. Tilbury House, Publishers. 1992. The author describes how people all over the world use their walls to tell their stories. Ex. The Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, the Taos pueblo in New Mexico....
Kroll, Virginia. Africa Brothers and Sisters. Four Winds Press. 1993. A father describes several tribes to his son.
Kroll, Virginia. Masai and I. Four Winds Press. 1992. Linda learns about East Africa and the Masai people.
Krumgold, Joseph. And Now Miguel. Scholastic, 1990. 12 year old Miguel wants to go up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to help herd the sheep during the summer. It is the job of the men and Miguel is too young. When Miguel's older brother gets drafted, Miguel had to take over.
Leigh, Nila. Learning to Swim in Swaziland. Scholastic Inc. 1993. The story is based on a series of letters that Nila wrote from Africa back to her classmates in New York City.
Lessac, Franc. My Little Island. Primitive paintings describing friends, flora and fauna in the Lesser Antilles.
Levinson, Riki. Our home is the Sea. Dutton Children's Books. 1988. A young boy rushes through the crowded city of Hong Kong and waits for the day when he will be a fisherman like his father and grandfather.
Lewin, Ted. Market! Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. 1996. Every one goes to a market. The author takes us to the Andes, Central Africa, Morocco, New York...
Locker, Thomas. Where the River Begins. Dial Books. 1984. Josh and Aaron journey with their grandfather to see where the river begins.
Lourie, Peter. Hudson River: An Adventure from the Mountains to the Sea. Boyds Mills. 1992. Shows the 315-mile course of the Hudson from its source in the Adirondacks to its mouth at the southern tip of Manhattan.
MacLachlan, Patricia. Three Names. A Charlotte Zolotow book. 1991. Story about a dog, Three Names, who went with grandfather through the proaire grass during the days of horse and wagon.
McKissack,Patricia. A Million Fish...More or Less. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1996. Hugh is left alone on the Bayou clapateaux. He soon finds out why it is a funny place.
Nhuong, Huynh Quang. The Land I Lost. Harper, 1982. Trophy, 1986. Describes author's boyhood adventures on the central highlands of Vietnam.
Onyefulu, Ifeoma. A is for Africa. Cobblehill Books. 1993. Photographs taken in Nigeria. Images represent family ties and traditional village life.
Reynolds, Jan. Down Under (Vanishing Cultures). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 199l.
Reynolds, Jan. Far North (Vanishing Cultures). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991.
Reynolds, Jan. Himalaya (Vanishing Cultures). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. Describes how the Sherpa and Tibetan peoples survive in a land with snow and ice all year long. Dramatic photographs and simple narrative.
Reynolds, Jan. Sahara (Vanishing Cultures). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1991. Describes how the nomadic Tuareg survive in the Sahara. Dramatic photos and simple narrative.
Rylant, Cynthia. When I Was Young in the Mountains.
Rogers, Jean. Runaway Mittens. Greenwillow, 1988. Story about Pica who loves the red mittens grandmother knit for him. Setting is in a cold and snowy place.
Spier, Peter. The Erie Canal. Doubleday.1970.
Spier, Peter. People. Delacorte Press. 1980. Every page shows the variety of people, how we are similar and different.
Williams, Karen Lynn. Galimoto.
Williams, Karen Lynn. When Africa Was Home. Orchard Books. 1991. Peter lived in africa until his father's job was over and the family had to return to America. He missed the village in Africa. The family returns to Africa.
Williams, Vera B. Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea. Scholastic, Inc. 1988. Stringbean sends postcards as he travels during the summer.
Yarbrough, Camille. Cornrows. Sandcastle Books. 1991. Every design of the cornrow patterns of Africa has a name and means something in the past and present of the Black tradition.
5. That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.
Hendershot, Judith. In Coal Country. Alfred Knopf, Inc., 1987. Describes the life of a miner's family as seen through tthe eyes of a young girl in a small Ohio coalmining town in the 1930's.
Rylant, Cynthia. Appalachia. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1991. Gives a sense of the place and people living in Appalachia.
Siebert, Diane. Heartland. Mojave. Sierra.
6. How culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.
Bates, Katharine. America the Beautiful. Macmillan Publishing Co. 1993. After traveling across the country for the past twenty years, Neil Waldman was inspired by the beauty of America and as a result has illustrated America the Beautiful.
Chocolate, Deborah M. Newton. Kwanzaa. Children's Press.1990. Kwanzaa celebrates kinship and gathering. It celebrates the ties that bind African harvest customs to the cultural and social history of african-Americans.
Cohen, Barbara. Molly's Pilgrim. Lothrop, 1983. A Jewish immigrant girl from Russia finally finds acceptance in her 3rd grade class at Thanksgiving.
Freedman, Russell. Children of the Wild West. Clarion, 1983. What it was like for settlers and Indian children living and going to school in the west.
Garland, Sherry. The Lotus Seed. Harcourt. 1993. A Vietnamese girl brings a lotus seed to America to remember her homeland.
Guback, Georgia. Luka's Quilt. Greenwillow Books. 1994. Luka and her grandmother spend time together. But things change when the traditional Hawaiian quilt Tutu makes as a gift for Luka isn't what luka expects.
Hartman, Gail. As the Crow Flies. Bradbury Press. 1991. Shows an aerial view from several animals point of view.
Maestro, Betsy. The Story of the Statue of Liberty. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1986. Scenes in this book record the drama of the Statue's creation.
Kuklin, Susan. How My Family Lives in America. Bradbury Press. 1992. Author-photographer zeroes in on the source of cultural identity: the family. An African family, a Puerto Rican family, and a Chinese family are portrayed.
Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. 1988. The Keeping Quilt, passed along from mother to daughter for almost a century, is the symbol of enduring love and faith. The author tells the story of her own family.
Rattigan, Jama Kim. Dumpling Soup. Little, Brown and Company. 1993. Marisa's family eats dumplings to celebrate the New Year.
PHYSICAL SYSTEMS
7. The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
George, Jean Craighead. To Climb a Waterfall. Philomel Books. 1995. The author takes the reader to the top of a waterfall. Thomas Locker is the illustrator.
Johnston, Tony. Yonder. Dial, 1988. Shows three generations of a 19 c. farm family going through the seasons and a growth of a plum tree.
Knowlton, Jack. Geography From A to Z. Thomas Crowell. 1988. The book describes 66 geographic physical features.
Mahy, Margaret. Rattlebang Picnic. Dial Books for Young Readers. 1994. The McTavishes go on a picnic and things start to become a little shaky.
Peters, Lisa Westberg. The Sun, the Wind and the Rain. Ted Rand Henry Holt, 1988. Two stories in one. The first one shows how a mountain is created and worn down. The second one shows a girl constructing a sand "mountain" at the beach, only to have it erode from wind and rain.
Watt, Fiona. Planet Earth. Usborne Publishing Ltd., 1991. Describes formation of many of the features on and below the Earth's surface. Geographical facts are combined with current issues concerning the environment.
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's Surface.
Bash, Barbara. Desert Giant: The World of the Saquarno Cactus, Sierra Club, 1989. How the Sonoran desert cactus grows and after 150 years flowers and fruits support a host of dependents.
Baylor, Byrd. The Desert is Theirs. Written in poetry form. Portrays the feelings of the Indians living in the desert.
Cherry, Lynne. The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. Harcourt, 1990.
Cherry, Lynee. The Shaman's Apprentice. A Gulliver Green Book, 1998. Book provides a message about the importance of protecting the healing plants of the earth.
Dorros, Arthur. Rain Forest Secrets. Scholastic.
George, Lindsay Barrett. Around the Pond: Who's Been Here? Greenwillow Books. 1996. Animals that live near a pond. Author provides short descriptions about the animals.
Graham-Barber, Lynda. Toad or Frog, Swamp or Bog? Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 1994. Mural-like paintings that show animals in their habitats.
Lindblad, Lisa. The Serengeti Migration. Hyperion Books for Children. 1994. Each year at the onset of the rainy season, the wildebeest and zebra herds begin their migration north.
HUMAN SYSTEMS
9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
Blumberg, Rhoda. The Incredible Journey of Lewis & Clark. Lothrop, 1987. Detailed account of expedition sponsored by Tom Jefferson in 1804. Detailed of medicine, animal and plant life, and anecdotes of explorers.
Bresnick-Perry, Roslyn. Leaving For America. Children's Book Press. 1992. The author tells a true story from her own life in a Russian Jewish community in the 1920's.
Bunting, Eve. How Many Days to America? Clarion Books, 1988. Refugees from a Caribbean island embark on a dangerous boat trip to America where they have a special reason to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Cech, John. My Grandmother's Journey. Bradbury. 1991. A child listens to her grandmother describe her journey from Russia to America at the end of WWII.
Cha, Dia. Dia's Story Cloth. Lee & Low Books Inc. 1996. Dia Cha tells a story of the Hmong people's search for freedom through the story cloth stitched by her aunt and uncle.
Coerr, Eleanor. Chang's Paper Pony. Harper Collins. 1988. A Chinese immigrant grandfather finds work in a California gold rush town.
Fiday, Beverly and David. Time to Go. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990. A boy takes his last look at the farm where once was bursting with cornfields. He resolves to come back one day to the rich and green pastures. But, for now he must leave.
Fisher, Leonard Everett. Ellis Island: Gateway to the New World. Holiday House, 1986. Describes the experiences that the immigrants went through when coming to America. The first station was on Ellis Island.
Freedman, Russell. Immigrant Kids. Dutton, 1980. Insider's eye on life in the New York tenements. Describes what the immigrants had to go through after they arrived at Ellis Island.
Isaacman, Clara and Grossman, Joan. Clara's Story. Jewish Publication Society, 1984.
Gibson, Jamie. Hello, My Name is Scrambled Eggs. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1985. Tuan is a Vietnamese immigrant who has to adjust to America.
Graff, Nancy Price. Where the River Runs. Little, Brown. 1993. A photo-essay about a Cambodian immigrant family of the 1990's.
Hamilton, Virginia. Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom. Knopf. 1993. Gr. 5-9
Harvey, Brett. Immigrant Girl: Becky of Eldridge Street. Holiday. 1987. Black and white illustrations. A russian Jewish immigrant family's life in New York.
Hewett, Joan. Hector Lives in the United States Now: The Story of a Mexican-American Child. HarperCollins. 1990. Black-white photo essay of 10 yr. old Hector who talks about his experiences as an immigrant.
Heller, Linda. The Castle on Hester Street. Jewish Publication Society of America.1982. Julie's grandparents reconstruct for Julie stories of the past.
Johnson, Dolores. Now Let Me Fly. Macmillan Publishing Company. 1993. The author writes a story about a mother and daughter who are sold as slaves and their hope for freedom.
Katz, William Loren. The Great Migrations-1880's-1912: History of Multicultural America. Raintree. 1993. European migration.
Knight, Margy Burns. Who Belongs Here? Tilbury House. 1993. A young Cambodian refugee's experience comes to America and questions who is the "real" American?
Lawrence, Jacob. The Great Migration. HarperCollins Publishers. 1992. Lawrence's images depict a story of the African-American experience.
Levine, Ellen. I Hate English. Scholastic. Now living in New York where her family has moved from Hong Kong, Mei Mei resists speaking English.
Levine, Ellen. If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island. Scholastic. 1992.
Levinson, Riki. Watch the Stars Come Out. Dutton, 1985. Story tells about a girl and her brother who traveled alone by boat from Europe to America (Ellis Island).
Lord, Bette Bao. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. A young girl immigrates to U.S. from China and struggles to feel at home.
Lowry, Lois. Number the Stars. Houghton Mifflin, 1989. In Nazi-occupied Copenhagen of 1943, a ten year old becomes a small part of the Danish Resistance when her family helps her best friend escape with her family to Sweden.
McGovern, Ann. Runaway Slave: The Story of Harriet Tubman.
Moss, Marissa. In America. Dutton Children't Books. 1994. Grandpa tells a story about life in the old country (Lithuania).
Nunes, Susan. To Find the Way. UH Press, 1992. Story describes the human side of a historical accomplishment - the voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii by ancient Polynesians.
Ringgold, Faith. Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky. Crown Publishers. 1992. Cassie and her brother encounter an Underground Railroad train and a tiny woman (Harriet Tubman) in a conductor's uniform.
Rogers, Jean. Goodbye, My Island. Greenwillow, 1983. A 'sense" of place. Describes how people move to Nome during the summers and move back to King's Island during winter. Finally, the school is closed on King Island. Families are forced to move to Nome, Alaska.
Sarunna, Jin. My First American Friend. Raintree Publishers, 1990. Written about author's own experiences after coming to America.
Say, Allen. Grandfather's Journey. Houghton Mifflin. 1993.
Shefelman, Janice. A Peddler's Dream. Houghton Mifflin. 1992. Solomon Joseph Azar from Lebanon sets forth with his peddler's pack to make his fortune in America.
Shiefman, Vicki. Good-bye to the Trees. Aheneum. 1993. A teenager leaves Russia to start a new life in Massachusetts. (1907) Gr. 6-9
Wartski, Maureen Crane. A Boat to Nowhere. Westminster Press, 1980. Kien, Mai, her grandfather and brother escape in a village fishing boat and sail to another country.
Wartski, Maureen Crane. A Long Way From Home. Describes how Kien adjusts to living in America and the problems he encounters.
Williams, Sherley Anne. Working Cotton. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1992. Williams draws on her childhood experience in the cotton fields of Fresno for this story of a migrant family's day.
Winter, Jeanette. Follow the Drinking Gourd. Knopf, 1989. Suspenseful tale of 5 slaves who cross into Canada and freedom.
Winter, Jeanette. Klara's New World. Alfred A. Knopf. 1992. Klara and her parents sail to the New World. Based on letters and diaries of Scandnavian immigrants.
10, The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
Bartone, Elisa. Peppe The Lamplighter. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. 1993. Peppe had a job as a lamplighter (not a job his father dreamed of for Peppe). One night, lighting the streetlamps became "the best job in America."
Brown, Janet Mitsui. Thanksgiving at Obaachan's. Polychrome publishing Cor.1994. A japanese American girl describes the Thanksgiving celebration at her Grandmother's house.
Brown, Tricia. Konnichiwa! Henry Holt and Company. 1995. The kamiyas retain a strong sense of their Japanese identity and Lauren learns the language and cuture of her heritage.
Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Mardi Gras a Cajun Country Celebration. A Holiday House Book. 1995.
Lankford, Mary. Hopscotch Around the World. Morrow. 1992.
McMahon, Patricia. Chi-Hoon A Korean Girl. Boyds Mills Press. 1993. A life of an eight-year old Korean girl in contemporary Seoul is portrayed.
Mitchell, Barbara. Down Buttermilk Lane. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. 1993. The author spent months in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and wrote this book about the Amish and their customs.
Moreillon, Judi. Sing Down the Rain Kiva Publishing Co., 1997. The Saguaro Wine Ceremony is one of the most important celebrations on the Tohono O'odham tribe who live in the Sonoran Desert. Poem is designed for choral reading.
Oberman, Sheldon. The Always Prayer Shawl. Boyds Mills Press. 1994. Adam and his Jewish family from Czarist Russia leave for a new life across the oceqan when the revolution engulfs his village. Before leaving his grandfather gives Adam a prayer shawl.
Polacco, Patricia. Just plain Fancy. Yearling Books.1990. Naomi and Ruth find an abandoned egg. Compared with their plain and simple Amish ways, the egg is almost fancy. After the egg hatches, they find out that the chick was not an ordinary chick.
Say, Allen. El Chino. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990. Billy, son of immigrants from Canton, China, grows up in the Southwest, goes on a trip to Spain, and wants to become a bullfighter.
Shea, Pegi Deitz. The Whispering Cloth a Refugee's Story. Boyds Mills Press. 1995. Mai stitches her own story with grandmother's help.
Surat, Michele Maria. Angel Child, Dragon Child. Scholastic, 1983. A Vietnamese girl comes to U.S. with her father, 4 sisters, and brother. She becomes lonely for her mother who is left behind in Vietnam because there wasn't enough money.
Waters, Kate. Lion Dancer. Scholastic. 1990. This is a sotry of the Chinese New Year and the Lion Dance on the streets of New York City.
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
dePaola, Tomie. Charlie Needs a New Cloak. Prentice Hall, 1973. Story details steps a shepherd boy takes to get a new cloak.
Hall, Donald. Ox-Cart Man. Viking, 1979. Shows the cycle of seasons, crops, and chores on a 19c. farm.
Heide, Florence Parry & Judith Heide Gilliland. The Day of Ahmed's Secret. A Mulberry Paperback Book. 1990. Ahmed delivers butane gas to customers over the city of Cairo. He carries a secret with him and reveals it to his family at the end of the day.
Kellogg, Steven. Johnny Appleseed. Morrow, 1988. Story describes how legendary John Chapman cleared his way through Pennsylvania, Ohio and the planting of the apple trees.
Ziefert, Harriet. A New Coat for Anna. Knoopf, 1986. The war just ended and Anna's mom has no money to buy her a coat. She barters and finally gets a red wool coat for Anna. (Use with dePaola's Charlie Needs a Cloak)
12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
Lyon, George Ella. Who Came Down That Road? Orchard Books. 1992.
Peet, Bill. Farewell to Shady Glade. Houghton Mifflin, 1966. From a quiet population of 16 animals grows a noisy and busy city.
Waters, Kate. Sarah Morton's Day. Scholastic, 1989. Shows early-American settlement at a living history museum in Plymouth, Mass.
Wheatly, Nadia. My Place. Kane/Miller Book Pub. 1992. It lets you go back in time. It shows changes in a 200 yr. period.
13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.
Abels, Chana Byers. The Children We Remember. Greenwillow, 1986. Photographs on the Holocaust.
Auerbacher, Inge. I Am a Star. Puffin. 1993. Author is one of 100 children who servived the Czechoslovakia's Terezin concentration camp.
Avi. Night Journeys. Pantheon, 1979. Peter York, orphaned ward of a Quaker Justice of the peoace, assists two young indentured servants in their escape from New Jersey into Pennsylvania in 1767.
Bernstein, Joanne. Dmitry, A Young Soviet Immigrant. Clarion, 1981. Story of a young Soviet Jew who emigrated with his parents in 1976.
Brimner, Larry Dane. A Migrant Family. Lerner publications Company. 1992. Shows how a Mexican family gets along as migrant workers in the U.S.
Brisson, Pat. Wanda's Roses. Boyds Mills Press. 1994. Wanda notices a rosebush growing in an empty corner lot. She cleans the lot, cares for and waits for the bush to bloom. She invites people to the Rose Garden.
Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.1992. From an ecologically dead Nashua River, people fought to restore the river to its original state.
Finkelstein, Norman. Remember Not to Forget. Franklin Watts, Inc. 1985.
Heide, Florence Parry & Judith Heide Gilliland. Sami and the Time of the Troubles. Clarion Books. 1992. A child is caught up in the terror of wartime.
Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. Lee & Low Books Inc. 1993. Inspired by actual events, the author writes about playing baseball in a Japanese American internment camp during WWII.
Oppenheim, Levey. The Lily Cupboard. A Charlotte Zolotow Book. 1992. Miriam is Jewish and is sent to be safely hidden with a family in the country.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. Philomel Books. 1994. The author-artist writes about this Civil War story which was passed from great-grandfather to grandmother, to son, and finally to her. It is a story of Pinkus Aylee (Pink) and Sheldon Russell Curtis (Say).
Say, Allen. The Bicycle Man. Houghton Mifflin, 1982. A reminiscence from the author's childhood in postwar Japan of the time two American soldiers entertained the entire school.
Toll, Nelly S. Behind the Secret Window. Dial Books. 1993. The author and her mother were in hiding in Poland for 13 months. In her small black journal Nelly wrote and painted about the experinces she had during her years of hiding.
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Bracelet. Philomel Books. 1993. The author draws on her own childhood as a Japanese-American during WWII to tell this story of a young girl who didn't want to leave her friend when her family was sent to an internment camp.
Watkins, Yoko. So Far From the Bamboo Grove. Puffin. 1987. Autobiographical account of a family leaving Korea to Japan after WWII.
ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
14. How human actions modify the physical environment.
Ancona, George. Riverkeeper. Macmillan. 1990. John Cronin keeps an environmental watch on the Hudson River.
Baker, Jeannie. Window, Greenwillow, 1991. Well-crafted introduction to ecology. Wordless, book traces urbanization of a countryside as the changing scenes are witnessed through a bedroom window.
Baker, Jeannie. Where the Forest Meets the Sea. Greenwillos, 1987. Visit a trodepict homes, traditions, and handiworks of the Amish.
Baker, Jeannie. Home in the Sky. Shows the city.
Blackistone, Mick. The Day They Left the Bay. Blue Crab Press. 1991.
Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Putnam, 1977. Story is about a 12 year old girl who died of leukemia before she could finish folding her 1,000 cranes.
Halpern, Shari. My River. Macmillan. A pictre book of river ecology for the very young.
Jeffers, Susan. Brother eagle, Sister Sky. Dial Books. 1991. Portrays a message to people to care for and preserve the environment.
Kennedy, Richard. The Lost Kingdom of Karnica. Scibner, 1979. A greedy king is willing to destrop his entire kingdom to dig up the giant precious stone that a wise man claims is the heart of the kingdom. Interesting parallels to our destruction of the ozone layer or our lack of conservation-consciousness leading to deforestation of the Amazon.
Lifton, Betty Jean. A Place Called Hiroshima. Kodansha International Ltd. through Harper & Row, 1985. Describes Hiroshima and the effects of the nuclear bomb.
Maruki, Toshi. Hiroshima No Pika. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books,1980. Experiences of the atomic bomb.
Peet, Bill. The Kweeks of Kookatumdee.
Peet, Bill. The Wump World. Houghton Mifflin, 1970. The Wump World was perfect for the Wumps. They were content until steel monsters from outer space from a planet Pollutus invaded the Wump World.
Provensen, Alice and Martin. Shaker Lane. Viking. 1987. A reservoir is built, thus drowning the town.
Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random House, 1971. Epic poem of how the old Once-ler cut down all the Truffula trees and polluted the land.
Tsuchiya, Yukio. Faithful Elephants. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1988. A true story of the elephants, people, and war. When the bombs were dropped in Tokyo, people were worried that if the bombs hit the zoo, the animals would escape and run wild through the city. So, the animals were to be killed.
Van Allsburg, Chris. Just a Dream. Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Ecology.
Yolen, Jane. Letting Swift River Go. Little, Brown and Co.1992.
15. How physical systems affect human systems.
Burton, Virginia Lee. Katy and the Big Snow. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1943. Katy was a tractor who helped to plow out the City of Geoppolis during a snow storm.
Lasky, Kathryn. Surtsey, the Newest Place on Earth. Hyperion Paperbacks for Children. 1992. Explore an island where a volcanic eruption takes place off the coast of Iceland.
Wiesner, David. Hurricane. Clarion Books. 1990. The children experience a hurricane.
Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings. A boy comes from China to San Francisco to be with his father and encounters problems of being accepted. The earthquake of 1906 is part of this story.
16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
Dorros, Arthur. This Is My House. Scholastic. 1992. Shows how people make their houses with whatever they can find.
Greene, Carol. Caring for Our Water. Enslow. 1991. Simple explanations about the problems of and solutions to having good water available.
THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY
17. How to apply geography to interpret the past.
Bial, Raymond. The Underground Railroad. houghton Mifflin. 1995. Book includes photographs, examples of "stations" on the railroad, along with images of the routes, lives, and hardships of bothe the "passengers" and "conductors."
Everett, Gwen. John Brown One Man Against Slavery. Rizolli. 1993. The author tells the story of how John Brown believed in ending slavery by making their way to Harper's Ferry, Virginia.
Fraser, Mary Ann. Ten Mile Day. Henry Holt and Company, Inc. 1993. Author retraces route of the crews, the Chinese and Irish workers, from Omaha to Sacramento.
Freedman, Russell. Buffalo Hunt. Holiday House, 1988. Text describes Plains Indians' hunt and uses of buffalo until white man's conquest of 1880s.
Maestro, Betsy. The Discovery of the Americas. Lothrop. 1991. Historical journey of the discovery of the Americas.
Vieira, Linda. The Ever-Living Tree The Life and Times of a Coast Redwood. Walker and Company. 1994. Watch the history of the world unfold while the tree keeps growing.
18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.
Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach. Crown Publishers, Inc. 1991. Cassie has a dream of going wherever she wants. One night, up on "tar beach" -- the rooftop of her family's apartment, she does "fly."
Ward, Leila. I Am Eyes - Ni Macho. Scholastic, 1990.
Wed, March 25, 2009 at 12:57PM
Massive smoke plume fills the sky as an undersea volcano erupts off the coast of Ha'apai in Tonga, March 18, 2009.
Our children watched this clip and whispered in awe, "And God is bigger than THAT!"
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 03:07PM BBC's Planet Earth:
"From deep on the ocean floor at the mid-Atlantic ridge, huge undersea volcanoes rise up from the deep, with their own unique eco-systems and communities of undersea life on each of them, feeding on the marine snow."
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 03:02PM Views from space, including the changing of seasons, hurricanes, "timelapse ice flows over the Arctic, billowing storm clouds over the Caribbean and beautiful blooming algae off the west coast of Southern Africa.
BDH's meticulous work involved stitching many high resolution photographs from NASA, to create these real images within our computers. Other work involved the planning and steadying of many timelapse sequences and the sensitive matching of atmospheric effects."
You can hardly believe the wonder of what God's done!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:47PM Free Tickets! Embark for a trip around God's Glorious Globe!
Let everything that has breath praise Him!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:38PM Breathtaking views of the Rockies, the Alps, and the biggest mountain glacier on Earth! -- from BBC's Planet Earth Documentary
Our God carved these rocks!
(a non-Creationist Timeline)
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:32PM Spectacular! Iguazu Falls, on the border of Brazil and Argentina, on the Iguazu River, above confluence with the Parana River...
Can you not but worship God!?
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:18PM Amazing footage! from BBC's Planet Earth documentary -- Angel Falls, Venezuela
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:07PM Did you know that it too may hold beauty secrets?
The lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea is a salt lake between Israel and Jordan. 420 metres (1,378 ft) below sea level, its shores are the very lowest point on the whole of our planet. The Dead Sea is also the second saltiest body of water in the world with 30 percent salinity!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 02:00PM Do you know where in the world you might boat in the world's highest lake?
(Speaks of their legend beliefs)
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 01:40PM Can you guess where in the world it may be?
And for more: The Story of the Windiest Day (for older readers)
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 01:27PM Are you brave? Ready to pumb the depths of earth?! Crawl down the deepest cave we've yet discovered! What a FASCINATING (and a little bit scary) trip!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 01:23PM Check out the video here! Unbelievable! Can you imagine walking through the quicksands of Morecambe Bay, England! These folks really did!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 01:18PM
Travel to Chile and the driest place on Earth -- no rain for the last 400 years?!!!
Let's go Explore His Earth!
Sat, March 21, 2009 at 01:07PM Postcards can be an excellent way of teaching children about places around the world, as there are so many different ways that they can be used. Before you try these activities, you will need a relatively large collection of postcards. So start collecting now - ask friends / family to buy some when they go on holiday, ask the children if they have any postcards at home, buy some which show your local area, join postcard exchange groups etc.
1) Matching the postcard to the place. Give the children a collection of postcards and ask them to find the places shown using an atlas, a map or a globe. This will improve the children's knowledge of the location of places around the world.
2) Join Postcard Exchange groups. There are a number of postcard exchange groups on the internet who are very willing to swap postcards with you.
3) Postcard Display. Make a large display showing the world and stick it to the wall (you could also use a pre-made large wall map if you do not have time to make one).
4) Journey of a Postcard. Give each child a postcard and ask them to find (on a map) where their home is and where the postcard came from. Then, they can describe the journey that the postcard made as it travelled to your classroom.
5) Make a Postcard. When the children have a good understanding of what a postcard is, how it is set out and why it is used, they might be able to make their own.
You could also make postcards using a computer. Click here to find out more.
6) Make a Tourist Leaflet / GuideBook. If the children enjoy making postcards, why not get them to make a leaflet / guidebook telling people all about a particular place?
Sat, July 26, 2008 at 09:09AM May we thank you?
As we pass on all royalties from A Child's Geography to those in need through World Vision, we wanted to share with you that your partnership with A Child's Geography has, this past quarter, helped the lives of 30 children in African countries such as Malawai, Zambia and Zimbabwe through World Vision's micro-loan program.
To read more of how World Vision's micro-loan program transforms lives, consider the story of Pacasie.
You and your young explorers are making a difference! You truly are going into all the world with the love of the Christ, helping the least of these.
Thank you, friends... Let's continue to go!