2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Maps
In a world that travels by Apples Maps, Google Maps, and Waze, I miss the good old days of opening up the road atlas and tracing the route from point a to point b. I grew up in a time where AAA TripTiks were printed and you spent the trip navigating from the top of the page to the bottom and then flipping it over. As a kid, my parents taught us all how to navigate the DC metro and gave us the job of getting us all around the city. When I moved to where I live now, I spent a solid couple of months printing directions from MapQuest so I knew how to get everywhere in my new town.
I love maps, my brain understands maps and I love planning trips and discovering new places. Which is probably why, this was one of my favorite book lists to pull together for this year’s challenge. These make great resources for kid who love to travel or even armchair travel! Or, the next time you plan vacation, have the kiddos help you figure out how you’re getting there and navigating once you do get there (especially public transport). These are life skills that are important to learn because no matter how many times Google tells me that I have to turn in 200 feet, I’ll never know what that looks like!
2025 Blogging A to Z Challenge: Maps
The 50 States: Explore the U.S.A. with 50 fact-filled maps! by Gabrielle Balkan, illustrated by Sol Linero
In 51 charmingly illustrated infographic maps, explore every state of the USA from Alabama to Wyoming and the nation’s capital to discover more than 2,000 facts that celebrate the people, cities, nature, and historic events that have helped make America what it is today. You’ll also get an expansive guide to the state flags and US presidents.
Ghost towns, swamp tours, the center of the universe…bacon donuts, brainy berries, salmon jerky…The French Fry King, The Mother of Oregon, The Queen of Blues…be inspired by the inventiveness, beauty, and diversity of the United States in this curious collection of fact-filled maps.
The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thuras and Rosemary Mosco, illustrated by Joy Ang
For curious kids, this is the chance to embark on the journey of a lifetime—and see how faraway countries have more in common than you might expect! Hopscotch from country to country in a chain of connecting attractions: Explore Mexico’s glittering cave of crystals, then visit the world’s largest cave in Vietnam. Peer over a 355-foot waterfall in Zambia, then learn how Antarctica’s Blood Falls got their mysterious color. Or see mysterious mummies in Japan and France, then majestic ice caves in both Argentina and Austria.
As you climb mountains, zip-line over forests, and dive into oceans, this book is your passport to a world of hidden wonders, illuminated by gorgeous art.
Children’s Illustrated World Atlas
Discover the world map-by-map with this exciting world atlas book for children, featuring more than 50 maps! Each page is filled with fascinating information, facts and colorful illustrations of our world.
Children aged 7-9 will love to learn all about the many countries, cultures, people and animals of the world through vibrant maps. Each map is bursting with information, combining colorful icons with photographs representing key points about each country. The atlas also includes a world map poster, with a political map for each continent – and children are shown how to read a map and use a key, compass, and scale!
Follow That Map by Scot Ritchie
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.
Lonely Planet Kids: The Cities Book
Do you know where in the world you can buy drinkable gold; why an ‘elephant’s foot’ is one of the most dangerous objects in the world; or where you might have to swim to school? Discover the answers to these questions and loads more mindblowing facts in The Cities Book, where readers aged 8+ are taken on an incredible world tour through 86 of the world’s greatest cities.
Sister title to the bestselling The Travel Book, every page is packed with facts on city living, and gives kids a flavour of what it’s like to grow up in each place featured. From food and festivals, to awesome architecture and amazing history – there’s something for everyone. A mix of wow photography, beautiful illustrations and hand drawn maps bring each page to life. It’s the perfect gift for curious kids everywhere.
My First Atlas of the World
Simple, colorful maps, bold pictures, and accessible text present basic geography, continent by continent, to spark kids’ curiosity about the planet we inhabit. They’ll learn elementary mapping skills and concepts such as the difference between a globe and a map. They’ll learn answers to questions, like what is a compass rose? What features make up the land? Where is the ocean? And what are the countries where people (and animals) live? Reviewed by geography and early childhood consultants, this delightful atlas makes our world accessible to even the most junior explorers.
Nat Geo Little Kids: First Big Book of Where by Jill Esbaum
This charming reference book zeroes in on location, location, location. More than 200 colorful photos are paired with age-appropriate text featuring answers to questions like, “Where does the sky end?” “Where is the highest mountain?” and, “Where was ice cream invented?” Containing several kid-friendly maps designed to expand the learning experience, this book inspires kids to be curious, ask questions, and explore the world around them.
National Geographic Kids Beginner’s United States Atlas
It’s a big country, and the cartographic experts at National Geographic want youngsters to have the engaging tools they need to explore and understand it. This fully revised and updated United States atlas features large, vibrant maps custom designed for children, along with bright, bold photographs and lively text that bring the nation’s people, places, and natural wonders to life.
National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas
Presented in true Nat Geo Kids style, this bold and lively road atlas is full of fun facts, great information, easy-to-read maps, lots of games, and vibrant pictures of everything from wacky road signs to national monuments.
National Geographic Kids World Atlas
Learn all about the people, places, trends, and developments of our world in the 6th edition of this acclaimed world atlas for kids. The latest, greatest geographic and political information makes this a valuable resource for using in kids geography classes or reading at home.
Rand McNally’s Atlas of World Geography
Rand McNally’s Atlas of World Geography provides engaging and richly illustrated geographic information for secondary students from grades 6-12. Thematic maps, graphs and charts help present a more complete portrait of our physical and political world.
Where on Earth? Atlas: The World As You’ve Never Seen It Before
Where on Earth? is an educational book for kids that brings instant understanding to a plethora of fascinating subjects, stimulating interest in the world around us and drawing young readers into its pages and the topics they cover. Take a tour of planet Earth learning about what’s where in the worlds of engineering and technology, art and culture, history, nature, Earth science, and human populations.
2025 is my tenth year participating in the Blogging A to Z Challenge! This year, I chose as my theme: Fact Finders Club: Nonfiction for Curious Kids with a focus on providing book lists focused on all types of nonfiction books for readers from birth to teens. Each letter of the alphabet will focus on different topics and will provide twelve titles on each list. Nonfiction is having a heyday in children’s literature and if you think it’s dry and boring, then I implore you to take a look at these amazing suggestions! Stop by daily to check out the new books and other posts that I’ll be sharing in April.
