Favorite Medieval Tales
A fine book from a prolific writer of children's books, Mary Pope Osborne. Great medieval stories like "Beowulf" and "The Sword in the Stone" that brings this period more alive for a young child and opens discussions.

Around the World with Phineas Frog
Another fun geography puzzle book cleverly done in an entertaining fashion so kids do not even know that they are learning. Mozart loves this one and it adds to the places we have been as well as prepares her for places that we will go to. It is a skinny paperback, so great for our tight spaces too. Good for a round the world kid or any interested in geography or traveling the world.

Tales from the Odyssey
No child should take an ancient tour of the world without a copy of the Odyssey and this one by Mary Pope Osborne was just perfect for Mozart and she loved it! There are five or six small chapter books in this series and they are very portable for reading on buses or trains. We combined this with reading some of the actual poem online.

Linnea in Monet's Garden
Simply a wonderful book to help a young child prepare for Paris, Monet, Giverny, museums, history and gardens and encourages her to appreciate the beauty of all. It will also keep the memories alive years after the event. We even got the doll of Linnea while at one of the Paris museums and Mozart carried it with her all over France and still plays with her from time to time. We wrote about how we used it to plan part of our Itinerary here & I don't think Mozart will ever forget Angelinas.

Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook
This is  wonderful book to prepare for Venice and Mozart has always enjoyed the story of this 9 year old girl's trip to Venice. We used it to make up a kid's itinerary during our time in Venice which Mozart got a real kick out of, as you might recall from this post.

Michelangelo's Surprise
This is a lovely picture book that Mozart has had for a long time which I picked up by chance one day long ago. She has always liked it and it was particularly nice to have it with us in Florence. Her connection to the story and beautiful pictures helped her feel more familiar with Florence, the Medici's and Michelangelo.

Babar's World Tour
This is a sweet book that is a must for a young child going on a world tour and a nice educational tool for any child, especially one that is following us. Lovely pictures and story like all the Barbar books.This was a great book to use to help prepare Mozart for our trip. They have simple words in different languages (and how to pronounce them) which adds to the value.

Alan Rogers Europe
This is my second favorite camping guide for Europe. I wonder if Church based his book on this one in some ways. What I like about both is there is more information and it is laid out very clearly. Many times in an RV, you do not know where you are going to spend the night and it really helps to have all the information at your fingertips. Many camp directories have so many abbreviations that they are hard to decipher. This is a good one and clear. I do wish they had more choices for every area.

Adventuring with Children
I love this classic book and think every family should own it! The subtitle says it all" An Inspirational Guide to World Travel & the Outdoors". This book is just chock full of gems and great information. She really covers everything from how to do hand laundry to keeping up violin practice while adventuring as a family. She has twin boys and a girl, so lots of practical experience over the years in many different modes from yachting and camping to hiking and biking on short and long trips.

The Collected Traveler Northern Spain
I really love this book and wish they had one for every area.They are just so juicy and delightful to savor. We had planned to go to Northern Spain on our first explorations of this journey in 2006, but life happens, so I have had a long time to really take in all the glories of this book. I fell deeply in love with Northern Spain just by reading this book, so glad we are finally going  the summer of 2008. If you like to get a deep sense of an area before going, these books are for you.

Traveler's Guide to European Camping
We find this the best book for camping in Europe.
We use many of this type, but this one is the most
clear and easiest to read. They have good campsites
and give a lot more information than most books.
They also have GPS coordinates for all camping sites.
Don't leave home without it!

Katie and the Mona Lisa
Mozart loves this whole series. We got them when she
was quite young,but she still loves them at seven and
rereads them all over and over. Charming stories,
exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to art
education for a young child. When she sees these
paintings in real life in museums as we travel,
she feels like they belong to her.

Storybook Travels
Great ideas for family travel by making itineraries
based on great children's Literature! Over 30
itineraries in North America and Europe for amazing
adventures for parents and children to share. We have
done many out of the book and have taken the idea
and made some of our own. Love it....wonderful
way to help a child identify with a place and learn
while having fun.

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
This is one of Mozart's absolute favorite books!
It is big, so I debated whether we should bring it or
not. I am thrilled that we decided to bring it along,
especially for Greece and Turkey! This is a children's
classic with great drawings and tales and I know at
least one gifted school that uses it in their curriculum.
This makes homeschool very easy for a child with
passion for this subject. We met a teacher on our
gulet boat trip in Turkey who said Mozart knew
more about Greek myths than he did and she
had learned it all on her own.

Take Your Kids to Europe
This book is a good practical guide for taking a family
trip to Europe. They have a lot of good ideas about
kid friendly things to do and we especially liked the
information about the benefits of family travel by
motorhome/RV in Europe, rentals and longer stays.

A Family Year Abroad
There are not that many books about family extended travel ( and there were even less when we prepared in 2005 and took off in 2006), so I used every resource that I could find for been there, done that information. This book was not my favorite as it applied primarily to a family spending a year in the Czech Republic  and attending American school and we were more interested in Spain and local schools to immerse in the culture. Still, I did gather some good information from it and I bought it. Every source has a little different take on things so many sources help in forming a plan.

WorldTrek: A Family Odyssey
This is the story of a family from Texas with two teens  that took a year off for a trip around the world. We think that is much too fast to see the world, but if that is all you have then it is better than most get. I would probably do less in this time as traveling fast can cost a lot more and take away from the experience, but there is benefit in reading many books on this topic. It is exciting as you prepare and helps one form ideas for your own trip.

The Medieval Feast
Another great book that we have had for a while and so glad that we brought it. Aliki is a fantastic author of unique, sophisticated nonfiction books for kids that have minutely detailed illustrations, and this is one of our favorites. It is a Reading Rainbow book recommended for 7 to 11 year olds and the entertaining story and sumptuous colors makes history come alive. Again, very portable skinny paperback for travel.