Follow That Map!: A First Book of Mapping Skills (Exploring Our Community, 1) - Hardcover

Ritchie, Scot

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554532744 ISBN 13: 9781554532742

Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2009

Synopsis

Maps are about far more than getting from a to b. Maps can help children understand and explore both their everyday environment and faraway places. With an appealing search-and-find technique, Follow That Map! is an interactive picture book that explains and demonstrates key mapping concepts. Kids will enjoy following Sally and her friends as they search for Max and Ollie, a mischievous dog and cat on the lam from the backyard. Sally and friends take an imaginative trip through the neighborhood, city and country, around the world and beyond.

Kids can join in the search for Max and Ollie, who are hiding somewhere in every map. An activity at the end of the book shows children how to make a map of their bedroom.

About this title

About the Author

Scot Ritchie is an award winning illustrator who lives in Vancouver British Columbia. He has illustrated over 50 children's books, (some of which he also wrote) including Let's Go! The Story of Getting from There to Here, Up, Up and Away and the Basics for Beginners series, Hockey, Baseball and Soccer.

Reviews

In this clever introduction, Sally and her four friends are looking for her missing cat and dog. The simple text is accompanied by a colorful map that uses symbols to identify places such as the library. Next, the youngsters explore the park, and the map shows how to follow a route. They continue their search in the city, the countryside, and eventually across the world and the solar system. On the way, a different type of map—for example, weather, topographical, and treasure—is featured on each spread and explained. The idea works well for the first few pages but falls apart as the children go further and further afield. However, the information is solid, and readers will enjoy looking for the animals, who are hiding somewhere in each map. Back matter includes instructions for creating a map of a bedroom.—Wendy Woodfill, Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, MN END

Sally and friends are playing in her backyard when they notice that her dog and cat, Max and Ollie, are missing. Determined to find them, they run through their neighborhood, the park, and the zoo; venture into the country and to a tropical island; and finally travel around the world and into space before locating the animals in the backyard. The fanciful story is less important than the overhead views of the search, which create maplike scenes of the children searching across land, sea, and space. Map-related information appears in bold type on each spread. Younger children will enjoy finding Ollie and Max in each ­cartoon-style picture, but older ones can pick up quite a bit about maps, including their purpose, use of symbols, and terminology, e.g., compass rose and legend. An appended project shows children how to create maps of their bedrooms. Preschool-Grade 3. --Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1554532744
• ISBN 13: 9781554532742
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Ritchie Scot