WOW Dozen: Making and Using Maps
Where are we in the world? How do we get someplace new? How do we perceive the world—or how do we want the world to be perceived? How does one place or idea connect to another? These are all essential questions for how people experience and move through the world, and they can all be answered by maps.
A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships between places, things or ideas. While they often focus on spatial relationships and geographic elements, both real and imagined, maps can also be used to display associations between ideas or concepts. Maps are tools to help us navigate and understand the world but are shaped by the map-maker's culture, beliefs, and knowledge. As such, they are statements about what matters and what does not.
Children have an innate desire to explore their world! An inquiry into making and using maps is a perfect extension of their urge to learn about the world and their place in it. In this WOW Dozen, I share a range of books ranging from nonfiction about the history of maps, how to make and use them, and what they can tell us to fiction showing children using maps for multiple purposes.
The study of maps also lends itself to interdisciplinary inquiries combining language arts, social studies, and science. For example, a language arts inquiry into map books can easily connect with explorations of animal migration or a study of world explorers.
A hungry refugee child finds hope and wonder in a large map his father brings home.
When Zoe has to flee her home, she makes a map of her neighborhood and realizes her memories will always stay with her.
Centuries-old maps from the British Library collection are accompanied by facts about locations around the world.
Rose sets off to discover something completely new, guided by intricate maps drawn from her imagination.
Maps of twelve regions and countries of the world illustrate how geography shapes politics, economics and history.
This biography of Marie Tharp traces her life history, with a focus on how she mapped the ocean floor.
Infographics and other types of maps explain common natural disasters and how they impact the world.
Told primarily through illustrations and maps, a boy visits his major emotional landscapes.
Martha depicts her world by drawing many different kinds of maps.
This nonfiction book describes how humans navigate the world, from star patterns to GPS.
Two children set out on a walk from their separate homes and draw the geographical features they pass before meeting and joining their maps together.
Falasteen seeks answers from her diaspora family when she realizes her homeland of Palestine isn’t marked on a map.
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older "must have" books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.
