Books to Explore Our World -- Maps Poster Book and Panorama Pops Boston Book Reviews

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

We love books that help us learn about places and cultures. In case you cannot tell I am a bit obsessed with teaching Hazel and learning myself about other cultures and places. However we are not big travelers, so books are our answer. Candlewick Press sent me two great books for our family. The first to share is Maps Poster Book by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. 

This book is the third in a group of Maps books. There is Maps and Maps Activity Book. We had the pleasure of reviewing Maps Activity Book awhile back. Now we have Maps Poster Book. Can I tell you how excited my map-loving husband is with this book? This book is literally a book of maps of the world. The pages are perforated so each page can be taken out easily. The front page features a colorful map of a country or region (except the last map is of the world).

This month we are exploring Switzerland with Global Learning for Kids, so I thought I would share with the Switzerland map. The maps include the country, the flag, things to see and things that come from the country as well as the languages and more. There are so many details in each map and the pictures make it fun for kids to explore and learn more about the country. 

The back side of the map shows where the country is in respect to the continent and/or world. (I chose to show you Madagascar which we explored a couple of months ago with Global Learning for Kids.) 

Map of Peru (which we explored with Global Learning for Kids as well as Around the World in 12 Dishes)

The book includes maps for Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Russia, China, India, Japan, Jordan, Egypt, South Africa, Madagascar, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the Arctic and Antarctica as well as a map of the world. It is perfect for helping kids get a sense of countries and their locations. We love it!! As you can see from the links I have provided we have already explored many of the countries at least once and now we can explore them again!

Our second book is one of the Panorama Pops books. We shared a few of them previously. This one however we have had the most fun with since it is Boston: Panorama Pops illustrated by Charlotte Trounce. These books are double sided accordion books that have fun shapes and pop-ups. They come in a hard box to keep them safe.

 The accordion book slides out and the fun begins.

Source

Now this book has a map of Boston and includes Paul Revere's House, the State House, Boston Public Garden, USS Constitution, the North End, Boston Harbor, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Back Bay, Fenway Park, the Esplanade, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and Harvard Square (which is actually in Cambridge just across the Charles River from Boston). Of course what is so exciting for Hazel is that we have been to several of the places or should I say she has been to several (Steve and I have been to almost all of them). 

Hazel was really excited to see the Museum of Fine Arts page since we had just been there in February when my nephew was visiting. Plus she loved seeing the swan boat in the Public Garden page. It has been awhile since we went on one so I guess we may need to visit there again.

The pages are beautiful and full of color and life. The information about each place is a wonderful introduction to it. We love this book and will definitely be keeping this one since it reminds us of our fun trips into the city. 

I hope you will take the time to check out these great book (and their series). We are having so much fun exploring our world with them and hope you can too!