The Red Book by Barbara Lehman

What a gorgeously fantastic book! I am probably biased because I have been a lover of maps since I was a young boy. I spent many days looking through atlases and dreaming of far off places and people. The Red Book captures that feeling perfectly.

Barbara Lehman illustrates this story (there are no words, which only increases the magic of this book) about two children, with simple, yet colorful drawings. One child lives in a cold northern city, and the other child lives on some warm tropical island. Both children by chance discover the "red book" which shows them about another part of the world with maps and pictures. Their interest in learning more about each other grow until one sets out on a big adventure.

A big thumbs up for this book. This is easily one of my top 10 books of the past year.

Ages: All ages
Keywords: Maps, Discovery, Geography, Adventure, Wordless books, Imagination

Lesson Plans: I would consider using this book while introducing maps to a social studies class. Another possibility would be to use this for a writing exercise; students could write a story that would go along with the pictures.