One day I’d love to travel around the world with my girl. We have big one-day plans. Alaska, Austrailia, Germany, France, so many adventures make up our bucket list. Until that one day comes, we are content to travel together in story. Candlewick Press books never fail to provide stories we want to adventure into again and again. To be honest though, when I planned the geography unit below, I didn’t know we’d fall so very deeply in love with the books I choose. Heart-opening, heartwrenching adventures, all of them.
The books below led us around the globe and my girl literally constructed a globe. We walked back in time and traveled with Zora (a character based on Zora Neal Hurston) as she learned more about herself, slavery, and the people who came before her. We walked with a refugee girl after the war came and took all that she had away. My kid and I read poetic prose about a family’s loss and connection and how something as simple as applesauce can save us. We explored the universe and how things began and watched children take joy in building a bike out of the meager things they had on hand.
Travel around the world with Candlewick Press. For children of all ages, these inspiring, heartfelt, stories teach readers about a variety of human experiences and what connection and kindness can offer.
Around the World, in Time and Space,
with Candlewick Press
My hope with this Around the World Unit was to introduce my child to past and current struggles, history, land, and people. The Stuff of Stars, Discovery Globe, Zora & Me, The Patchwork Bike, The Day War Came, and Applesauce Weather, while very different in style, form, and story, did exactly what I hoped. They took us to new places, helped us see history, both past and present, all from the lens of a child.
Zora & Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon
My eight-year-old and I could not read this book fast enough. In fact, we spent a good four hours one day reading and eating popcorn. It was too good to put down.
The story takes place in the early 1900’s. A fictional account of Zora Neal Hurston’s life, two young girls, Zora and Carrie, work throughout the novel to solve a mystery and resolve a conflict that impacts not only their friend, Mr. Polk but their town. The book takes the reader and girls back in time to when slaves worked their land. It tells about Lucia, an enslaved girl, whose journey will eventually intertwine with their own.
Zora & Me is a beautiful read aloud. It would be an incredible addition to a classroom or home library, and would absolutely be one of the books I used in any and all units about slavery.
Applesauce Weather by Helen Frost
If your children have yet to read a novel in verse, this is a wonderful one to try. Each chapter, a poem from the point of view of alternating characters, tells of Faith and her family, how when the first apple falls from the apple tree her aunt and uncle planted when they were children, meant it was applesauce weather and Uncle Arthur and Aunt Lucy would soon arrive. This year is different though. Aunt Lucy has died and no one is sure if Uncle Arthur will come. Faith believes he will though, and what unfolds is a story of hope, family, and connection.
The Day War Came by Nicola Davies
I strongly believe this book should be required reading. Not just for children, for adults as well. Heartbreaking vivid images and words capture the truth that so many children in our would have faced, do face, will face. The Day War Came is also a story of hope and offers children an example of what a simple gesture of kindness can do.
The Stuff of Stars by Marion Bauer
Beautiful and poetic, in The Stuff of Stars science and art combine to teach our children about the universe, the Big Bang, and how they, we all, are the stuff of stars.
My daughter and I could not stop smiling through this book. The illustrations and poetry, lead readers through the adventure that is our story. The end of the book, our favorite part, celebrates each child’s birth. “Waiting, waiting, dividing, changing, growing. Until at last, YOU burst into the world.”
The Stuff of Stars would make a wonderful gift and a great addition to an astronomy unit.
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke
Australian writer, Maxine Beneba Clark takes readers on an adventure into the “no-go dessert” where children make their own fun and create a bicycle out of scaps in the yard. Not only is this book a fun, inspiring tale about making the best of a hard situation; it’s also a look at third world poverty. Mud-for walls home, cardboard boxes, and paper bags create the setting and backdrop for the book’s pages. Fed-up Mum loses her milk jug and her children whoop and holler in joy as the ride their patchwork bike together.
Discovery Globe: Build-Your-Own Globe Kit by Leon Gray
An awesome addition to our unit and home, not only did my daughter love assembling the globe, but she also loved finding the exploring the world! Thanks to the World Explore’s Guide that accompanies the globe, my daughter enjoys seeking and finding countries, famous buildings and learning all about the animals and resources that make each part of our world special.
The guide offers information, games, questions, and globe assembly instructions. It is a fun, interactive book and project, perfect for geography units, classrooms, and homes.
Travel around the world with Candlewick Press books. Full of adventure, heartfelt characters and stories, learnings and lessons, these are books your families will treasure and read over and over again.
