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Mapping My Day
Follow Flora and her zany family as she takes us through her day with a series of vibrant and interactive maps.
In our current GPS-ruled world, map-reading is something of a dying art. But learning to read, understand, and draw maps is a fun and active way for children to develop spatial thinking skills— how we think about and understand the world around us and use concepts of space for problem solving. Early exposure to maps concepts can help foster this type of cognitive development in children and boost their math and science learning as they progress through school.
Each hand-drawn, kid-friendly map highlights key map concepts in the context of a story or puzzle. Figure out which route to school is the fastest, how to find Flora’s buried treasure, and even how to complete a dog agility course!
Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Professionals with more information about maps and spatial concepts, as well as questions, games, and activities designed to encourage children to map their own days!
In our current GPS-ruled world, map-reading is something of a dying art. But learning to read, understand, and draw maps is a fun and active way for children to develop spatial thinking skills— how we think about and understand the world around us and use concepts of space for problem solving. Early exposure to maps concepts can help foster this type of cognitive development in children and boost their math and science learning as they progress through school.
Each hand-drawn, kid-friendly map highlights key map concepts in the context of a story or puzzle. Figure out which route to school is the fastest, how to find Flora’s buried treasure, and even how to complete a dog agility course!
Includes a Note to Parents, Caregivers, and Professionals with more information about maps and spatial concepts, as well as questions, games, and activities designed to encourage children to map their own days!
40 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
1 person is currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
July 11, 2017
I’d always found that summertime was the perfect time for teaching my Kiddo some life skills in between the fun stuff as she got older - things like how to tie her sneakers, how to cross the street, how to find her way around. This was a tough one because it turned out, my Kiddo didn’t have a great sense of direction. How I wish we had had Mapping My Day to make things easier.
In Mapping My Day, kids can follow Flora, a girl who loves maps, from sun up to sun set and learn the basics for understanding how to read maps and how to make their own. Beginning with the basics, the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west, Flora maps out the floor plan of her house. In the yard, Flora shows how to make a buried treasure map in case kids want to hid their valued possessions from younger siblings, and most important, how to find their buried treasure.
Flora manages to make a map for everything she does during the day. And shows us the different routes her parents take when they drop Flora and her brother off at school. There is even a map of her aunt’s backyard obstacle course for her dog. Each map teaches something new to readers so that by the end of the book, they know all about map symbols, the concept of scale, the use of legends, how to use landmarks and map out a route, the significance of a compass rose, and the importance of cardinal directions.
Mapping My Day is a great way to teach kids concepts of spatial thinking and problem solving. This book makes these things so much easier to learn by bringing these ideas to a level that kids can understand - their own lives. One of the things I did when I taught this to my Kiddo was to buy her an nice big compass, and taught her how to read it in relation to all these other ideas (I actually bought a nice easy-to-read Girl Scout Compass).
At the end of the book, there are four pages of activities for kids to practice their newly acquired mapping skills. If you make copies of the Draw Your Own Map activity, kids can really map their lives in the same way that Flora does. You can also download these activities HERE
Did it pay to teach my Kiddo these mapping skills? You bet, she has managed to find her way around the block, but also around Britain, Europe and China, even when the map she’s using isn’t in a language she knows.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. And just in case you need a little more convincing about importance of teaching kids about maps, HERE is a recent article from PBS Parents about just that subject.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Magination Press
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
In Mapping My Day, kids can follow Flora, a girl who loves maps, from sun up to sun set and learn the basics for understanding how to read maps and how to make their own. Beginning with the basics, the cardinal directions north, south, east, and west, Flora maps out the floor plan of her house. In the yard, Flora shows how to make a buried treasure map in case kids want to hid their valued possessions from younger siblings, and most important, how to find their buried treasure.
Flora manages to make a map for everything she does during the day. And shows us the different routes her parents take when they drop Flora and her brother off at school. There is even a map of her aunt’s backyard obstacle course for her dog. Each map teaches something new to readers so that by the end of the book, they know all about map symbols, the concept of scale, the use of legends, how to use landmarks and map out a route, the significance of a compass rose, and the importance of cardinal directions.
Mapping My Day is a great way to teach kids concepts of spatial thinking and problem solving. This book makes these things so much easier to learn by bringing these ideas to a level that kids can understand - their own lives. One of the things I did when I taught this to my Kiddo was to buy her an nice big compass, and taught her how to read it in relation to all these other ideas (I actually bought a nice easy-to-read Girl Scout Compass).
At the end of the book, there are four pages of activities for kids to practice their newly acquired mapping skills. If you make copies of the Draw Your Own Map activity, kids can really map their lives in the same way that Flora does. You can also download these activities HERE
Did it pay to teach my Kiddo these mapping skills? You bet, she has managed to find her way around the block, but also around Britain, Europe and China, even when the map she’s using isn’t in a language she knows.
I can't recommend this book highly enough. And just in case you need a little more convincing about importance of teaching kids about maps, HERE is a recent article from PBS Parents about just that subject.
This book is recommended for readers age 4+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Magination Press
This review was originally posted at Randomly Reading
March 13, 2017
Flora loves to draw maps. It all started the day she buried her treasures in her yard to hide them from her little brother and had to draw a map to find them again. Flora introduces us to a day in her life. Each part of her day includes a map. There's a map of her house, her backyard, the way to school, the playground, and her aunt's dog obstacle course. It was fun to read about Flora's day and then see it diagrammed on the map. Each map also introduces one important aspect of maps such as a compass rose, a scale, and landmarks. At the end, the author has included suggestions for a bunch of activities that parents or teachers can do with children to help them learn about maps. This is a fun way to introduce children to the concepts related to spatial relationships as well as a great starting point for learning to use and create maps.
February 12, 2021
A cool book to introduce spatial thinking, something I've often struggled with. Evie liked it and wants to make her own map of our house and her favorite places.
There is a surprising bit about the fat aunt, but I guess I can see that as an opportunity to talk about bodies? I'm not sure. Parenting is hard!
There is a surprising bit about the fat aunt, but I guess I can see that as an opportunity to talk about bodies? I'm not sure. Parenting is hard!
July 26, 2021
Maps can be intimidating to read (or explain to someone else!) so a book that puts everything into a little bit of perspective is always a treat!
November 13, 2019
I love maps! This book describes many map terms all while telling a story. The story isn't very engaging but it's enough to present the map facts in an interesting way while showing examples. A note for parents and activity ideas in the back help to expand the concepts. On the plus side: the family is biracial; on the negative side: Aunt June is "pretty big" and needs special seating. If the author wanted to make a point of moving the girl's seat for dinner, she could've picked a different reason such as wheelchair accommodation.
March 10, 2017
As a child, I loved looking at maps and atlases. We would often go on Sunday drives and trips to visit family and I would love following along on the map, seeing which town would be coming up next and how many more miles we had to go. I think physical maps are rare now and the majority of children haven't ever really looked at a map. Now that our phone tells us exactly where to turn and how many more miles we have to go, we don't really have to look at the map.
Flora loves creating maps and she shares the various maps she uses throughout the book. She also teaches directions and uses the terms for reading maps including legend, scale, and landmarks. The maps Flora shares include of her home, the location of a treasure in her yard, her route to school, the playground, and her grandma's backyard obstacle course. The book takes us through Flora's day using the maps she creates but really doesn't tell much of a story. It is just more of a diary about her day. This book is a great way to introduce your child to maps and to share all the different types of maps with them in a simple format. There is a glossary at the end of the book for parents as well as puzzles and a place for kids to draw their own map.
The illustrations are really cute sketches and offer lots of detail. The maps give the appearance that a child created them and are easy for kids to read and understand.
I really like the concept of teaching kids about maps and all the different kinds of maps that they could create or use. This offers a simple way to teach kids in the lower elementary level about maps and how to use them.
Flora loves creating maps and she shares the various maps she uses throughout the book. She also teaches directions and uses the terms for reading maps including legend, scale, and landmarks. The maps Flora shares include of her home, the location of a treasure in her yard, her route to school, the playground, and her grandma's backyard obstacle course. The book takes us through Flora's day using the maps she creates but really doesn't tell much of a story. It is just more of a diary about her day. This book is a great way to introduce your child to maps and to share all the different types of maps with them in a simple format. There is a glossary at the end of the book for parents as well as puzzles and a place for kids to draw their own map.
The illustrations are really cute sketches and offer lots of detail. The maps give the appearance that a child created them and are easy for kids to read and understand.
I really like the concept of teaching kids about maps and all the different kinds of maps that they could create or use. This offers a simple way to teach kids in the lower elementary level about maps and how to use them.
May 22, 2017
Such a fun, whimsical way to introduce so many aspects of mapping to a child. The text is clear and fun, and the illustrations add just the right amount of detail and silliness to engage the child. GREAT BOOK! And if you're an adult (or a super brainy little person), and don't have much knowledge of mapping, there are several pages at the back to help make you an expert.
June 20, 2017
Not a fan of the illustrations. The idea is good and there is some useful information. Very disappointed that the APA couldn't get the second sentence here correct: "My brother tried to find my treasure once, but he didn't have the map. After digging five holes around the yard, Dad got mad and made him stop." Who did the digging??! Come on.
June 29, 2019
This would be a great book to read to support a lesson on map making. The end of the book has suggestions for how to use the book and introduce map making to children, followed by download/printable pages to use with the book. Once you have the book the rest is free! I love books that lead so easily to learning.
June 20, 2017
Really cute picture book about maps and cardinal directions.
September 1, 2017
I loved this book! It was so fun to look at and point out different things, I think this would really set imaginations aflame with possibilities. Can't wait to read it to her again when Doo is older.
October 3, 2017
This would be a great book to read in conjunction with a craft about directions or mapping out your neighborhood.
November 9, 2017
Reads like a book a teacher could use with a lesson about cardinal directions.
October 28, 2017
I liked this book. The story isn't amazing, but I do like how different types of maps are displayed.
December 31, 2022
so fun i love maps
February 16, 2024
Flora takes us through her day, using various maps to show us her routes. Great introduction to maps for young children.
January 10, 2025
Super cute story introducing many mapping concepts. Rich back matter/end notes!
March 12, 2017
Full review with teaching tools: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=1...
Mapping My Day’s Flora loves maps. She thinks in cardinal directions, she maps out where everything is, and she even plays games using maps. It is because of Flora’s enthusiasm that the readers of her story are going to want to play with maps also which will *surprise, surprise* lead to them learning about mapping skills and even some mathematics. I know this book is going to find its place in elementary classrooms and so many kids out there are going to map their days out just like Flora.
Mapping My Day’s Flora loves maps. She thinks in cardinal directions, she maps out where everything is, and she even plays games using maps. It is because of Flora’s enthusiasm that the readers of her story are going to want to play with maps also which will *surprise, surprise* lead to them learning about mapping skills and even some mathematics. I know this book is going to find its place in elementary classrooms and so many kids out there are going to map their days out just like Flora.
April 25, 2017
Flora loves drawing and making maps. In this story, she takes us through her day in varied activities, telling about how maps help her plans. Using graph paper backgrounds for some, she explains steps per square and the cardinal directions. The illustrations are kid-friendly, will make a terrific book for supporting map-making skills in the classroom.
April 27, 2017
A young girl maps out her day involving the reader in figuring out distance, etc.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews