Maps and Plans

Children's Literature

This book is loaded with easy-to-make geography projects. Practice giving and following directions by constructing a maze to lead wildlife to the watering hole. Learn how to take bearings of the world around you by making your own compass. Have you ever wondered what birds see from on high? The next project helps you create a bird's eye view of your town. Learn how to use graph paper to draw a large-scale plan. Then add 3-D details to make your plan come alive. Learn an easy trick to create complicated contour maps. Your friends will be impressed when you use grid map techniques to construct a coded birthday message. Your reading and geography skills will build with each fun construction project, along with your vocabulary and creativity. These high-thinking, high interest projects would make for active summer fun or cooperative classroom activities. 2001, Aladdin Books, $22.90. Ages 8 to 10. Reviewer: Leslie Julian

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Readers will have fun while learning a lot about maps, charts, and city plans in this informative book. The attractive layout features a colorful grid framing each double-page spread that introduces a basic concept ("Left and Right," "North or South," "Plans and Symbols," "Colors and Contours") through text and an activity. The fresh projects begin with a game to help students understand directions and continue with a design for an eight-point compass face, a 3-D model of a street plan, and suggestions for creating a picture map. The clear, colorful photos and drawings make the text and the activities easy to understand. This book will be an inspiration to budding cartographers. A good introduction to geography.- Cynde Marcengill, formerly at Horry County Memorial Library, Surfside Beach, SC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.