My Map Book

by Sara Fanelli

Experience a child’s view of the world in this extraordinarily imaginative picture book about maps "An imaginative, child-centered title that should be examined and enjoyed, and one that will also make a wonderful springboard for teachers introducing the concepts of mapping or autobiography," said School Library Journal. In each spread of this bold and humorous picture book, children can examine their place in the world around them through detailed and engaging maps that are drawn from a child's perspective. Twelve beautifully illustrated maps, such as Map of My Day and Map of My Family, will fascinate children, teaching about both mapping and telling one's story. When finished reading the book, children can unfold the jacket—it turns into a poster-size map for them to use for drawing and creating.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Geography, Family, Teaching, Maps, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 1995

About the author

Sara Fanelli was born in 1969 in Florence, where she studied for a Diploma di Maturita at the Liceo Classico Michelangelo before coming to England, where she studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School, Camberwell School of Art, and the Royal College of Art, London.

She has undertaken illustration work for various publications, including the New York Times, the Independent on Sunday and the New Scientist. Her clients include The Royal Mail, BBC Worldwide, and Tate.

Reviews

[Tulasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative ways to look at map

[Ellie Flude · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for counting and discussion work. I particularly love the idea of creating a ‘map of my family’ to understand where children come from and embracing backgrounds.

[Portable · Rating 3 out of 5]

I initially ordered this book to introduce the concept of maps to our children, and I loved the idea of it, as it explores both conventional maps: a bedroom, local environment; and then more abstract ideas, like a map of a heart.

However, while the illustrations are thought provoking and colourful, they are quite chaotic. I think older children would appreciate this more, as it can be a little unclear. So i'd say perhaps this book could be a four star rating if read to older children, but I'm only giving it three stars for our kindergarten age.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is another book which introduces maps to children. It is less academic and more creative than the other books I have used for this purpose. There are pages that have pretty traditional ideas, such as making a map of your bedroom. But it takes a more creative bent and soon has "maps" of dogs and other non-geographical things. These seem more like diagrams with labels than maps. It feels a little like a map book, but also like a writing mentor text. It might be entertaining for students, or maybe confusing.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve illustrated maps make up this book showing the different situations or places that can be mapped, such as a map of a bedroom, family and day. It illustrates all the creative ways of mapping both conventional and abstract ideas.

This is a concept book that does not contain a verbal narrative, but does have a lot of verbal text that can be explored on a page. It provides a great introduction to school-aged children on the different ways we can draw maps and invites students to consider creating a map of their own.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this as part of our map interest fulfillment. I think SS and SD gravitated to the illustrations being very similar to what they (or at least SD) could create right now. And interested in the different maps that are similar to their own world--of their room, their home, their stomach, etc.

Possibility for storytime. The pictures are best seen up close, harder for a larger crowd. But my crowds were often small enough and I could point out what was on the pages. Worth a thought.

[Ellie L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book to explore. Fanelli opens a window into the mind of a child, as she takes the reader through a journey around their little world. I loved how personal this book was and really enjoyed the small details of their life, along with the way that their perspective influenced what mattered most to them. I am sure that were children to make their own map book they would each draw attention to completely different parts of their lives, each unique to themselves.

[Mr Bramley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst I found the book a little overwhelming to read, I really enjoyed the concept, and it gave me lots of ideas for creating maps with children in class.

I think it would be better to take selected examples of the double page spread maps and look at them individually for emphasis rather than read as a whole book with children, but could be a great discussion piece to inspire children's own maps.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many maps of things important to a child: neighborhood, family, tummy, dog, etc. This would be a great creative writing prompt or art project.

Reviewers have mentioned it is chaotic, but I think it reads very true to a child's mind. The occasional extra detail in words or pictures helps to show what is most important to this child.

[Doreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. To me it encourages self acceptance: immediate environment, places we live, our inner selves. An interesting take on looking at yourself, physically and where you are on a map (in the world). Also a cool tribute to the map making original idea (trees, paths, houses…), especially when creating a treasure map.

[Alexandra Beckett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great visual for introducing Heart Mapping to kids. For my artsy kid who loves to draw everything, this is definitely an inspiration.

Topics include:
Map of My Bedroom
Map of my Family
Map of my Day
Map of my Tummy
Color Map (primary to secondary colors)
Map of My Neighborhood
Map of My Heart
Map of My Dog

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy reading this book. But, the morning after I read it to my 5 year old son at bedtime, he woke up and started creating an abstract map of our neighborhood. So, as a teaching tool, the book certainly works and reaches the intended audience.

[Tom Garrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chaos. While it might be a fun introduction to maps in geography, I feel like this text would be far too stressful for any SEN children.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an informational book about a kids breakfast, day, dog etc. This was not my favorite but it was cute.

Lexile Measures: BR-220
DRA Levels: 4

Presentation, Organization

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mad books are always in demand by teachers, unfortunately this seems best for sharing one on one

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives kids a creative introduction to maps.
There's a dog map, road map, bedroom map, map of my day and more.

[Sue Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do children love drawing maps and representing aspects of their lives so visually and graphically?
This book understands that need and the accessibility and clarity that drawing a map to represent aspects of one's life can give.
I really liked the map of, I presume, the author's dog, face and heart!
So much to look and find, so much to discuss, so much to unlock in others. Great book.

[Stacy Natal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books that will appeal to one child and he or she will drawing their own maps for weeks afterwards. I can think of an actual student from one of my past classrooms that would have gotten lost in this book for days. This book of "maps" illustrates a wide definition of the word as it contains maps of places but also a map of a dog, a map of relationships, etc.. I think that this book only lends itself to being read 1:1 or in a small group as the maps are a bit chaotic and hard to follow and are drawn in child like drawings, all hard to follow from across the room.

[Mathew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fanelli's initial foray into children's books might not be as accomplished as her outstanding work The Onion's Great Escape but you can see the seed of her thinking and style here. Starting off with the simple idea of drawing a map of her home, Fanelli starts to build on the cartographic analogy of maps in its broadest sense: presenting us with a map of her heart, a day in her life, a family tree and a map of her tummy - each from a child's perspective.
Fanelli sets out to chart all the aspects of a child's life that might be important to them. In doing so, her illustrative style, a mixed-media approach that calls on collage, line drawings and her own invited typography, celebrates the seemingly chaotic inventiveness of a child's expressiveness too. There is plenty to see here and I imagine more would be picked up with repeated readings. This book would work very well alongside Can I Build Another Me?.

[Jane G Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was entranced by the cover and idea of this book, but after reading it through slowly and carefully with my little one, I've decided that they allowed the illustrator to tip over the edge a bit on this one.

The idea is awesome--all sorts of maps of things that a kid would encounter: a map of lunch, of the day, of the neighborhood, of the family dog, etc... Very fun things to make maps of.. But, the actual illustrations are so chaotic and all over the place, that I noticed my five-year-old was completely perplexed. He loves maps and machines and figuring out how things work--this is the perfect type of book for him, and yet, he was lost.

A hard book to recommend when it's built more for a grown up eye than for a toddler's.

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the illustrations in this story however found it quite difficult to read to children. The idea of using it to support early introductions to maps is nice, I particularly enjoyed the map of the heart. So with my own class I would be perhaps tempted to use individual pages of the story rather than the whole book. It could be used to show different types of maps or to mind map ideas for a given topic.
However it is a lovely book that older children would be able to read comfortably.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every K-6 teacher should have this book in their writing classroom! This book ties in so nicely with ideas that a Penn State writing professor shared with district teachers a couple years ago. The book is a collection of maps that trace a child's thinking in order to generate ideas for writing. Some of the maps include: heart map, neighborhood map, map of my family, map of my day, map of my face, map of my dog, map of my room. Great book to show how ideas are all around us!

[Donna (Jaevenstar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book when teaching personal narrative writing in my class. We all make a Map of our Hearts brainstorming things we love. Then we use those ideas for story starters. The students also made their own maps - of their rooms, of their houses, of the classroom, of their pet.. etc. It was a ton of fun!

[Ayoca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can be used with grades 4-9 during Social Studies to teach about Maps. This book is about all kinds and types of maps. This is a good book to show kids that map making is easy and fun, because they can create maps from important events and experiences.

[Rhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to be sara fanelli when i grow up and become a children's author.
brilliant brilliant brilliant.
adults with a love for quirky, artistic childrens books will get as much out of this as the children it is made for.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a GREAT book for kids. We read the book and made maps of our own. It was a big hit. It is an interesting way to start a conversation about place/space. It even has "a map of my dog." Too cute!

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every spread is a different map. The illustrations are pretty rough but interesting for older kids. There are not only maps of places but of the family, tummies and the dog
A collection of maps provides views of the owner's bedroom, school, playground, and other realms farther away.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Playfully illustrated, this book introduces the youngest child to the idea and concept of maps. Pictures include maps of a face, a dog, the narrators heart and his family. I found the "map of my day" particular interesting.

[Nojood Alsudairi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good idea for teachers to ask children to draw maps of things that are important to them. You mighit like this Solady.