I recently realized I never posted the books we read when Second Son, my youngest, was in kindergarten for our Reading Around the World in Picture Books. In the previous three years we read books from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America, so in 2016-2017, we focused on books set in Europe.
We had read books set in Europe when First Daughter was in kindergarten, but that was four years earlier and only for one term. So this list is quite a bit longer, though some books are on both lists.
We were still using the picture book basket method that year, so we didn't read every single one of these books. If books were similar or by the same author, I would put them in the basket on the same week, so there are more than 36 books in the list. The books were available in the basket for a week and then floated around the house for another three weeks before they had to go back to the library. Some of these we owned, so those went back on our shelves, but most were library books.
I'll put asterisks by the ones we have loved and revisited in the years since we did this study.
I'm going to link to Bookshop if they have the book and Amazon otherwise. These are all affiliate links.
** The Remarkable Christmas of the Cobbler's Sons by Ruth Sawyer - Austria; I'm not sure why I felt the need to schedule this in August rather than around Christmas time, but regardless, I had to include it because it's illustrated by Barbara Cooney, my absolute favorite children's book illustrator.
A Gift for Mama by Linda Ravin Lodding - Austria; a sweet book
A Tale of Two Brothers by Eveline Hasler - Switzerland; a folktale
Chasing Degas by Eva Montanari - Paris, France; This one does double-duty with artist study!
** Adele and Simon by Barbara McClintock - Paris, France; I love Adele and Simon so much! They have a book set in America, too.
Anatole by Eve Titus - France; I feel like this book is a classic. If not, it should be.
** The Iridescence of Birds: A Book about Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan - France; This is another book that doubles as artist study, but with more actual information. It's quite lovely!
Madame Martine by Sarah S. Brannen - Paris, France; a sweet story about trying new things
The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks - France; I feel like I liked this book more than my kids did, but it's a great one for showing more of France than just Paris.
A Giraffe Goes to Paris by Mary Tavener Holmes and John Harris - Paris, but also Egypt; I find books about animals traveling from one continent to another fascinating.
** Hana in the Time of Tulips by Deborah Noyes - Holland; A beautiful book and one of my favorites.
Hans Brinker retold by Bruce Coville - Holland; I actually like this picture book better than the original story.
Katje the Windmill Cat by Gretchen Woelfle - Holland; you have to have cat stories, too.
** The Boy who Held Back the Sea by Thomas Locker - Holland; This is another of my favorites.
Boxes for Katje by Candace Fleming - Holland; an uplifting story that just touches on the horror of World War II
The Golem's Latkes by Eric A. Kimmel - Czech / Slovakia; a fun book based on a Jewish tale
** Little Rooster's Diamond Button retold by Margaret Read MacDonald - Hungary; one of our favorite books. Second Daughter still loves to read this and she's almost 12.
The Race of the Birkebeiners by Lunge-Larson - Norway; I love how this book combines a bit of history, virtue, and beautiful artwork.
D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls and Children of the Northlights - Scandinavia; because everything by the D'Aulaires is magical.
Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka and their New Skates by Maj Lindman - Sweden; there are a number of books in this series, but this was our favorite.
Master Maid: Tale of Norway by Aaron Shepard - Norway
Seven Fathers by Ashley Ramsden - Norwegian folktale; another tale I think I liked more than the kids, but one worth sharing
Boots and His Brothers by Eric A. Kimmel - Norway; a folktale
Sister Bear: A Norse Tale by Jane Yolen - Norway; beautiful illustrations
The Day Hans Got His Way by David Lewis Atwell - Norway; I don't remember this book at all! Perhaps the kids didn't choose it.
How the Ladies Stopped the Wind and The Problem with Chickens by Bruce McMillan - Iceland; these are kind of odd books, but my children enjoyed them.
The Mouse Bride by Linda Allen - Finland; nicely done illustrations.
** Summer Birds by Margarita Engle - Germany; a lovely picture book about Maria Sibylla Merian
The Famous Nini: A Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star by Mary Nethery - Italy; a fun story
Vivaldi and the Invisible Orchestra by Stephen Costanza - Venice; I don't suppose this book is that realistic, but it's always nice to combine composer study with Reading Around the World. And it was a good excuse to listen to some of The Four Seasons.
** Do Re Mi: If You Can Read Music, Thank Guido d'Arezzo by Susan L. Roth - Italy; I liked this book much better than the Vivaldi one, especially the illustrations. (I marked it as a favorite, because it was a favorite of mine, but I'm not sure the kids would agree.)
Building on Nature: The Life of Antoni Gaudi by Rachel Victoria Rodriguez - Spain; architecture and Reading Around the World
The Hedgehog Boy: A Latvian Folktale by Jane Langton - Latvia; this one was a bit odd, but I was a little surprised to find anything from Latvia at our library at all.
Elinda who Danced in the Sky: An Estonian Folktale by Lynn Moroney - Estonia; this tale was quite nice.
** How Mama Brought the Spring by Fran Manushkin - Belarus; bright, colorful, and enticing! I always feel like I can smell delicious treats when we read this book.
The Mitten by Jim Aylesworth (wonderfully illustrated by Barbara McClintock and The Mitten by Alvin Tresselt (with a completely different illustrative style) - Ukraine; The Mitten is one of my favorite folktales so of course we had two versions of it.
The Orphan: A Cinderella Story from Greece by Anthony L. Manna and Soula Mitakidou - Greece; I liked this story, but the illustrations weren't my favorite.
The Black Bull of Norroway by Charlotte Huck - Scotland; a Scottish tale that's sort of about Norway.
** The Ink Garden of Brother Theophane by C. M. Millen - Ireland; one of my favorite picture books.
The Leprechaun's Gold by Edwards by Pamela Duncan Edwards - Ireland; I don't remember this one.
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant - England; I have always enjoyed this book, but I think it appeals more to older children.
And that's it. At the end of the year, we set aside official Reading Around the World plans forever as my youngest, Second Son, "graduated" to first grade and Level 1B. I think he might have appreciated more reading around the world, but without younger ones around, I didn't have the impetus to keep it up.
As usual, I have received nothing in exchange for this post, but links to Bookshop and Amazon are affiliate links.
