Follow the Line Around the World

Follow the Line

by Laura Ljungkvist

Follow the line from the camels of the Sahara Desert to the blue whales of Greenland, from the giraffes of Kenya’s grasslands to the kangaroos of Australia’s Outback. This new Follow the Line book—illustrated in Laura Ljungkvist’s signature line style—takes young children around the world to see animals in their natural habitats. With informative facts and a gentle environmental message, Follow the Line Around the World is sure to appeal to those interested in taking better care of the earth.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Geography, Art, Nonfiction, Travel, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2008

Reviews

[Mariah Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the creative illustrations in this book! I also loved the facts in it for my 4 year old who is just starting to become curious about the world. I will definitely be checking out the other 'follow the line' books by Laura Ljungkvist.

[Samantha Gacke]

Different regions of the world are explored along with the terrain and the animals found there.

This book is centralized around a line that connects different parts of the world and goes through the whole book, but it also connects the objects that are found in each region. In the Russian taiga, the line connects the evergreen with the moose and the bears. The line really helps to connect the different pieces of each part of the world. In each section of the world there is also information that is included in each region of the world. Some of the information goes with the animals, while other parts of the information go with the terrain and vegetation found in that region. The line that goes through each picture and the information that is included really helps to show the relationships in that specific region and shows why certain things work better in each environment.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

We were not impressed with this book since all of the facts were things we already knew. Very basic, didn't lead to any questions.

[Devon Norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I liked how it gave a description about climates and how animals are able to survive in them across the world. I thought this book provided a lot of neat facts about the animals in the world, New York City, and outer space. I think this book would be good to use in a classroom about climates and how they are different in different areas of the world. I would use this book with 2nd and 3rd graders because the language in the book is not too difficult and it provides a rhyming routine which makes the flow of the book easier for students.

[Bailey Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This informational book includes facts about several different animals around the world. This book also has great photographs with captions, facts, and stories about animals around the world. In my classroom, I would use this book to allow the students to notice and explore different text structures and for research purposes. I would put this book in my classroom library, where all students would have access to explore this book.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool book! It allows the young reader to follow one continuous line through different cities around the world, describing various highlights of those cities. I could see a child having fun following the line along the page with their finger.

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, but too much info on each page for a storytime. Will recommend.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

These interactive books are the best. This one is cool because it has facts about animals and countries instead of asking questions about the things on the pages.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. I thought the concept of a single line going throughout the book and drawing the animals and things was a great idea, and my son enjoyed following the line through the whole book. The illustrations are fairly simple and pleasant to look at. My favorite part was probably where the reader visits the Russian taiga. I didn't know much about this climate so I found this very interesting.

But that's where the fun ends for me. The text throughout gives a few interesting facts (a lot of them are kind of boring and pointless to read) about the animals from all around the globe, but it's confusing about what order to read things in and the facts themselves seem disjointed.

Where I started to get really annoyed is this: the author introduces the book with a cute poem about going on a tour of animals around the world - "with a stop off in Russia... and even the moon"?! What does the moon have to do with animals? That should have been the first clue that the book was not going to be very consistent.

The author does talk about animals - at first. But then she wanders off talking about things other than the animals like the climates of where the animals live. That's not so bad and served its own purpose, I suppose, but then she goes off to New York City! At first I thought she'd mention the wealth of animals that live in the city which would have been really cool, but nope! She just talks about the city itself. Why?! There is no rhyme or reason to her thinking!

And then worst of all, she goes off to the moon where obviously no animals live. She could have talked about animals that had gone into space, I guess, but even that would have been a stretch. Also, I suppose going into space was to give a place for the reader to look at the earth as a whole, though I didn't think it was necessary. And then she spouts off a very light agenda about taking care of the earth and the animals, etc. Not that the subject of caring for the earth and the animals is a bad thing. I'm all for that, but I just didn't feel it had a place in this book. I thought the whole reason why we're "following the line" was to learn about animals. That's it. It was very disgruntling to be led to what felt like a contrived ending.

Unfortunately, I think the author failed on this book. It had an interesting, unique idea, but she shot the book in the foot with all the other stuff that didn't make sense or belong. Such a shame. I would be slightly interested if she did another book with the same art concept, but there absolutely needs to be a smooth flow of consistency and purpose for it to be a success.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another fun book in the Follow the Line series by Laura Ljungkvist. The around the world journey is informative and the illustrations are mezmerizing, especially if you follow the line literally through all of the pages. The last page ends with an ecological caution, but otherwise this is just an entertaining book. We enjoyed reading it together.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a lot to offer. As the title suggests, the reader must follow the line...around the world. One continuous line begins on the cover and ends on the back cover. It goes through different countries and continents then space. The test provides little fun facts about the different places the book explores. My favorite is: "Cobras are deaf, so they must depend on their other senses." I would recommend this to fans of the I Spy series.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to kick off our "Continents and Countries" unit for grade 2. It's fun to use with a laser point to show the places mentioned on a wall map. The concept is that we follow one line that will take us all over the globe. Along the way we learn various facts about the animals that live in each spot. Some of these facts are quite basic (bears hibernate) and some are more interesting (Antarctica is a cold desert) but overall the book makes a good read-aloud.

[Zara Younus]

This book is a really cool fact book around the world. Students are able to follow the lines and create the pictures for that country. The pictures describe the place. Each page has captions of fun facts for the pictures. Students are able to learn about different countries around the world. Students can create their own geography fast fact books with different writing styles and unique pictures.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought this book was very creative book because students and teacher can just follow the line as the story goes. lines can be simple or complicated. this would be also great when you are teaching about the geography and different places in the world! line travels thru many different places in the world. VERY INTERESTING!

[Hae Sun]

When reading this book, I would remind students about the other "Follow the Line" books so that students can make a connection. I like book in series because it allows students to make text to text connections. This book has the line go around the world, introducing animals and different habitats and environments.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really neat concept: follow a single line that's incorporated in the illustrations through the book. It's also nice that a short book about discovering the world includes some non-standard places like Sri Lanka. The facts are a bit random at times, but it's not like you have to read them all in a book like this.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot going on here. This book can almost have 2 read throughs--once just looking at the illustrations (one single line) and the bold text. The other reading all the facts listed on each page.

[Emmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow the Line Around the World is as visually delightful as Ljungkvists's previous two installments. The text shifts away from finding and counting objects to teaching about geographical locations.

[Lin Lin]

The author takes the children to travel around the world following just one line. A wonderful book of integrating art and words. Children can learn about different places around the world. Great for K, 1st, and 2nd graders.

[melanie (lit*chick) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books, but this one was REALLY hard to follow the line. Like an etch-a-sketch gone bad.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great interactive book. Large pictures all made of one line you can follow. Includes questions for counting and identifying.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precious book, didn't even realize it was out there...

[Sarah A · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever fun book touching on different animals and different ecosystems around the world. Can be read as a quick book or can lead to lots of in depth conversations.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuous line drawings supplemented with color fill-ins and backgrounds. The story is about places in the world (and space) and the various animals in those areas. It covers information about each of the animals. It goes from Kenya to Greenland to the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest to Sri Lanka to Mexico to Antarctica to the Russian taiga to Australia to New York City to Space.

Text is in 2 sizes.

The big text on each page is simple. For example" Greenland. Turn the page and warm up in ..."

The smaller text is with the various animals, sometimes shaped to the animals. There's more of it and this is where the details are. "Walruses use their tusks for fighting and making holes in the ice."