National Parks Maps: Illustrated Maps of America's 62 National Parks

by Abby Leighton

Explore all 62 national parks in the United States with this immersive collection of illustrated maps and facts. 2021 Foreword Indies, GOLD: Juvenile Nonfiction Explore all 62 national parks in the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific and everywhere in between in this illustrated map collection. Learn about our parks’ founding fathers and the unique characteristics each park has to offer―maybe even discover a park you’ve never heard of before, or a new one to have your next adventure. National Parks Maps is an informative and educational art collection meant for park fans of all ages.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Middle Grade, Picture Books, Childrens, Travel

80 pages, Hardcover

Published March 2, 2021

Reviews

[Mrs.Heather Lassley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do understand that this is meant for YA crowd, and the art is beautiful. But I feel like you could have added so much more about each park. I am an avid National Park traveler and it is doing the kids an injustice not sharing more with them. I am not saying 10 pages per park, but maybe the best hike, best panorama, something.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a national parks nerd I was sad to find that some of the facts in this book are just straight up incorrect, and that some of the printed pages were skewed (see: the map of Congaree). Still, it's a pretty volume that I will share with my kids to get them excited about national parks.

[Alexander Hagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

This book has absolutely gorgeous illustrations. From the first park to the last, there is a distinct style that flowers over every page and the drawings really showcase the park it is depicting. I would honestly consider buying a copy to cut apart so I could have some of my favorite park maps framed for our National Park wall at home. That being said, some of the maps are much stronger than others. I was more drawn to the maps that had a lot more little illustrations of animals and other natural landmarks on them as some only have one or two things and it looks a little blank.

As it is described as being for all ages, I will go into that. For adults, it is absolutely gorgeous. It doesn't give much information, so this is for National Park aficionados that already have a good understanding of the parks, or for people that are not looking for a plethora of insight on each park. It gives enough to interest you so you can then further educate yourself with research or visiting. As for kids, its fun. I don't think it will be many kids favorite books that they always grab from the shelf to look at, but the colors make it fun and I think kids will be drawn to the animals drawings especially.

Overall, this is a fun book and really does show America's National Parks in a very fun and simple way.

[Milinda Yount · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for a gift and had to read it first! I enjoyed it and think he will too (he's six).

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this book.

The artwork is nice. I wish I could use a stronger word there, but it’s… nice. The best parts are the few parks that get a two-page spread, where there can be more illustration and detail. I know it would make for a much longer book but doing that would have made it more unique. As is, it’s literally just maps copied from an adult guidebook with a fact or two thrown in. It does have a neat page at the end of how to visit a park- pack it in/out, plenty of water, etc.

Worst part for me is a couple of the facts are wrong. It says Hot Springs is the smallest National park, when it is actually Gateway Arch, and it says Everglades is the third largest park in the US. Only if you exclude 7 of the parks in Alaska…?

It’s cute, and I’m sure was fun for the author to create, but there’s nothing unique enough about it to buy it for my own collection. You may consider buying it and cutting it up, then framing the parks you like as mini-posters, if you like the art style.

[Kirsten Hinds · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn’t looking for a ton of information about each park just a beautiful drawing with the best highlights and what makes each park special. These sparse drawings don’t even give you that. Each map is the park area with a few landmarks and maybe the roads and trails. I say maybe because there are no trails marked in Rocky Mountain and Yosemite, two parks where hiking is central to your experience! She doesn’t even draw in the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain! No visitor centers or campgrounds are marked and the trails are unnamed. For all these reasons, I had to compare the actual park maps to these maps to even orient myself in parks I have been to before! Mammoth cave is one that I can’t make sense of because the historic cave entrance isn’t even labeled so you better hope the landmarks you know are the ones she randomly deemed important. I get this may be for a younger audience but I don’t see anything about these info graphics that would be interesting to my children or any older than them. Overall, pretty disappointed and will be returning.

[Cyndie Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title explains it pretty concisely. Each page has a brief description of the national park and a map of both where the park is in its US state or territory and then of the park itself with some key features labeled and some illustrations. I had no idea there were so many national parks in Alaska, now I want to know more. My favorite pages in this book were the ones where they had an extra page that provided a bit more background about the park, why it was important, and the kind of things to see there above and beyond just the map. I kind of would have loved to see even more of that, but perhaps that's another book.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book you will want to go traveling! Each of our 62 national parks are given a short introduction with a stylized map and brief description. Each entry tells the acreage and date the park was established, as well as some of its notable features. This is a book to motivate readers to learn more, possibly inspiring a social studies/geography-related research project about an individual park.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for the artwork and loved it for that. I was a little disappointed to only see the southern half of Redwood National Park, but I'm also biased when it comes to the parks. A few things were not correct, but things in the Park Service change so often they could have been correct at the time is printing. Still would highly recommend this book. LOVED the last page with the suggestions on how you could and should enjoy the parks.

[Emily Leon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Abby Leighton share this book via TikTok and knew I had to preorder it ASAP! This book is beautifully done! As a National Park fanatic I couldn’t wait to get it and start reading it. I loved the little excerpts about each park and how detailed the park maps were. The graphics are well drawn and fun to look at. Well done!

[Natalie Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm giving this a three star. Do NOT attempt to use the maps to actually navigate any of the state parks. Obviously, they did not do all the state parks. I felt like there could have been more information about the each park. Info for each was about a paragraph.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art in this book is so fun! I love all the different uses of color palettes. The brief information on each park is helpful in getting a hint of what each park has to offer. I appreciate the book as and adult and would be a great way for kids to learn about the parks as well.

[Suebee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would not recommend for a school library purchase. Maps would have been better served with less flowy script and more detailed information and photographs. These pages are more suitable for framing on a wall instead of for an informational book for children.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book that'll surely inspire people of all ages to visit our national parks - wonderful facts and illustrations.

[Cecelia Conway · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only wish is that it was longer 💕

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has really nice artwork and some brief facts, but I would have liked a little more information on each park.

[Margaret M Knepper · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn't anything personal in any of the maps. Just copied basic information from the parks. Some of the colors are rather dark. Drawings okay

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great color and size book, but if you’re expecting anything more that extremely un-detailed maps, one page per park, look elsewhere.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the art, it's just a little light on facts for even middle grade nonfiction.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to go through with my kids, just wish there were more park facts.

[Ash Thorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short introduction to the National Parks with beautiful pictures.