I absolutely hated geography in school. I never memorized the U.S.A. states and where they were, but then I was given this cute book called The Little Man in the Map, by E. Andrew Martonyi, illustrated by Ed Olson, Schoolside Press. The Little Man in the Map uses rhyming stories with coordinating pictures of animals or people etc. to help kids remember states and where they go in the USA.
It’s illustrated in a full color cartoon style. My 6 year old quickly grabbed it and started to read through it. Now I wish I could say he had them all memorized, but he certainly had more then the 5 he knew before he looked through the book. Schoolside Press’s Web site offers 2 FREE coloring pages that you can download and also a 38 x 22 full color wall map for $21.95. This will help to strengthen the memorization of those state locations and names. Hey you never know, maybe I will finally memorize where all 50 states are! A small disclaimer: some of the states shapes are in the shape of an elf and magical creatures. Now they do not teach about elves or anything like that, but I know there are some Christians who might not like that so I thought that there are even pictures of these things in a book for their children. So, I thought I would let you know about it. To me it was no big deal and beside we are Christians that do celebrate Christmas with Santa. So there is my disclaimer.
If you are teaching or going to be teaching in the near future USA geography, I highly recommend purchasing The Little Man in the Map. Hey it’s only $19.95 and it could make a great Christmas gift.
Score 9 out of 10
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