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.

The Boy Who Held Back the Sea
We bought this book to prepare for the Netherlands and it is a beautiful retelling of the famous story of the little boy who held back the sea by putting his finger in the dike. The illustrations are visually stunning and done in the style of the 17th century Dutch landscape painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer. It also opens the way for discussions on the low land geography of Holland. It is skinny and portable too.

The Child's Gift of Art
This was a very smart set to bring with us as Mozart loves them and rereads them over and over. There are actually four books in this set, one each about DaVinci, Picasso, Degas and Van Gogh. In a fun, child centric way they teach a lot about the artist and their art. They are also tiny books, so great for travel. I just happened to buy these at a museum a few years before leaving, so glad I did now.

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.

The Story of the World
We love this book and this series! We mostly use it as one of our before bed stories. Mozart also loves the workbooks and we have brought two along with us, but we just use them in Spain because they are too big for our camper space. It is a great way to teach history to kids! By having a better understanding about history, our travels are enriched.This particular one was great for our ancient history tour.

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.

You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Gladiator!
This is another book that Mozart has had for a long
time and reads over and over. She loves it and she
loves Roman Gladiators for some reason. I would
have guessed that this book would appeal more
to boys, but not in our case. This is a funny and
entertaining picture book, but filled with lots of
interesting facts because the author is an archaeologist.
We found it great to have with us any time we were
touring ancient Roman ruins and it takes up little space.

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.

Material World
I think this is a very important book that every child, every person should see and certainly a traveling family. It visually shows you what a typical family owns around the world. This is particularly important for a first world family and children who have come to think endless materialism is a necessary part of life. Excellent food for thought and motivation to live a less encumbered, freer life.

In English of Course
This is a lovely picture book and funny tale based on a true story about a girl from Naples, Italy who moves to New York City and her fist day in class with other immigrant children & a child's perspective on being bilingual and learning a new language this way. I bought this for Mozart before leaving as a kind of bibliotherapy to prepare her for her life in her new school in her second language. It was valuable on several levels and she still enjoys this book.

The Great World Tour
Mozart loves this fun, educational book! This is another one of our favorites with the theme of learning while having fun because I think that is the best way to learn and it makes it effortless. It has a bit of "where is waldo" feeling too it with lots of good information while hunting. Anyone can take a world tour this way and it is packed with lots of fascinating geography facts and puzzles that make you think.

Earthsearch A Kid's Geography Museum in a Book
his is a really fun book with lots of good educational information and activities that make you think, done in a clever and entertaining way. Just the way we like to learn!

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.