Map Mania: Discovering Where You Are and Getting to Where You Aren't - Softcover

Dispezio, Michael A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1402705999 ISBN 13: 9781402705991

Publisher: Union Square Kids, 2003

Synopsis

Learning geography will always be fun with the special tricks you'll learn here. Starting from familiar territory (home, backyard, schoolyard) and moving outwards, this amusing, delightfully illustrated introduction to maps and more teaches street smarts to kids. Filled to the brim with fun games, cool activities, humorous quizzes, and wacky facts, every page turns basic geography into an adventure. Build a model of an early compass to understand navigation--then head out to test your skills. Use the sun, moon, and the stars to get your bearings. Look at a map similar to the one Columbus might have used when he set out to prove the world was round. Hit the road with "a key to the highway" that provides information on tolls, the number of lanes, and other details. Figure out which route goes where. All in all, you'll have a delightful trip--and end up just where you want to be!

About this title

From the Back Cover

You know where you're going, but do you know how to get there? Figuring it out is the fun part! Forget about that wishing upon a star stuff and look at the night sky to help you find your way. Or slice up the earth to get a sense of direction. Not the real planet, just a map of one! Then wrap it around a table tennis ball and you've got your own personal-sized globe. These are just some of the awesome ideas that will give you "map mania!"

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-It's no fun being lost in a parking lot, in a building, or in the woods, and this book will teach youngsters some tricks of the trade to help them know where they're going or where they've been. In lighthearted prose, DiSpezio imparts a considerable amount of information, including an occasional historical tidbit. He covers floor plans and maps of the home or neighborhood before going on to navigation tools such as the compass and a discussion of physical, political, topographical, and space maps. The Bermuda Triangle, Flight 19, Atlantis, and other mysterious occurrences dealing with the topic of being lost bring the book to a close. Quizzes, puzzles, and activities such as orienteering and triangulating and making an astrolabe appear throughout. Unfamiliar words are explained in context. Directions and accompanying diagrams are clear and easy to follow but words seem to be missing in the lead-in to the topographic map activity. Garbot's cartoon illustrations will grab readers and help maintain interest. There is an enthusiastic, "isn't this cool stuff?" tone to the book and the overall design with pages of varying colors and borders; clear, easy-to-read font; and an open, spacious layout is appealing. Andrew Haslam's Maps (Two-Can, 1996; o.p.) is similar in scope and is aimed at the same audience. Barbara Taylor's Maps and Mapping (Kingfisher, 1993) and David Stienecker's Maps (Benchmark, 1997), while similar in content, offer less information and are not as much fun as DiSpezio's title.
Peg Glisson, Mendon Center Elementary School, Pittsford, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Union Square Kids
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1402705999
• ISBN 13: 9781402705991
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 80
• Illustrator: Garbot Dave