Thank you to Diana Hooper for compiling this list of living books for Geography studies.
(Note: Diana has read all of these with her family and feels that they are clean and appropriate for grades 5 and up, but different parents and children have different ideas of what is acceptable. It is always a good idea to review books before you read them aloud or have your children read them.)
Around the World in Eighty Days —Jules Verne
Homesick –Jean Fritz (Her life in China.)
Ali, Child of the Desert –Jonathan London
The Road from Home: A True Story of Courage, Survival and Hope –David Kherdian. (Armenia 1915)
Red Scarf Girl: A Memour of the Cultural Revolution –Ji-Li Jiang (China 1966)
Daughter of the Mountains –Louise Rankin (A journey from Tibet to Nepal, Bhutan and finally India. You’ll want a map of the region.)
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam –Huynh Quang Nhuong
Journey to Jo’burg: A South Africa Story –Beverly Naidoo. (It has a sequel.)
Habibi –Naomy Shihab Nye (From St. Louis to Palestine.)
I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade –Diane Wilson (Mongolia)
Listening for Lions –Gloria Whelan (Africa to England)
The Kite Fighters –Linda Sue Park (Korea)
Call It Courage –Armstrong Sperry (Pacific Islands)
A Girl Named Disaster –Nancy Farmer (A girl runs away from Mozambique to Zimbabwe. You will need to look at the map to see the journey.)
Shabanu –Suzanne Fisher Staples (Cholistan Desert in Pakistan.)
