How I Learned Geography

How I Learned Geography

Title: How I Learned Geography

Genre: Historical Fiction

Author/Illustrator: Uri Shulevitz

Awards: Caldecott Medal

Age group: 7-12 years old

This story takes place during World War 2 and is told through the eyes of a boy who loses everything at first, but in the book he finds a happy twist to his horrible situation in a map.

Summary:

When World War 2 hit they lost everything and fled east to another country. Where they lived on the floor with a couple they did not know. One day the father was sent to get bread because they were very hungry, but he came back with a huge map instead. At first the son was angry at his father because they were starving and he started being jealous of the couple that they lived with for eating bread. But then he started studying the map and saw how it brought such colors to once drab room, and he started to imagine going on some adventures around the map, such as deserts, beaches, snowy mountains, temples, fruit groves, palm trees, and tall buildings. All this made him forget about his hunger and his horrible situation. In the end he forgave his father for he was right about the map.

I don’t believe I would use this book in my classroom, because I don’t really see a learning theme in the story. But I do believe it could still be a good book for a child who maybe going through a hard time and this book might inspire them to make the best of their situation.

I believe the appropriate grade level for this book is 2nd-5th grade, because it is a little more mature of a topic for younger grades to understand. Even though this book has very little words to a page, there is a deeper meaning in the topics in the story that is why I might recommend this book for older kids.

This book could be used as book to read when talking about World War 2 and what being a refugee is like. You could also use this book as a way for the students to view learning geography as a magical thing, and that geography that can open up doors to new experiences.

HAVE FUN READING!💙-Lacy