The Explorer: Guides for Kids Who Want to See the World

You know this child. The one who pulls the atlas off the shelf and disappears into it, tracing coastlines with one finger and asking how people live way up there, or all the way down there. The one who wants to know what language they speak in that country, what they eat, whether it snows, how far it is from here. The one whose questions always seem to begin with the word where.

If your quiz pointed you here, you have an Explorer, and having one in your home is a gift. That pull toward the wider world is where geography, history, and cultural understanding all begin. A child who wonders what it is like to live somewhere else is already learning to see beyond themselves and to imagine lives unlike their own.

And here is a bit of practical good news. Many states include geography somewhere in their requirements, and parents often wonder how to cover it well without dry memorization of capitals and exports. This collection does exactly that. Each guide drops your child into a real place through a story they love, so geography becomes something they feel at the kitchen table.

I built a collection of guides that together take your family clear around the globe. From the rainforests of the Galapagos to the streets of Paris to the ice at the bottom of the world, your Explorer can spend a whole year traveling without leaving your reading nook.

You can view them all here.

Here is your trip around the world, organized by region.

Africa. Anna Hibiscus brings your family to a warm and bustling home in Africa, full of extended family, city life, and everyday joy.

Europe. A Bear Called Paddington settles you into the heart of London, and The Story of Diva and Flea wanders the streets of Paris through the eyes of a little dog and the cat who shows her the city. At Christmastime, The Story of Holly and Ivy brings your family to an old-fashioned English Christmas, and A Nordic Christmas carries them north into the snow and traditions of Scandinavia.

Asia. The Girl Who Stole an Elephant sweeps your child into the jungles and palaces of Sri Lanka, and Once Upon a Camel carries them across the landscapes of Turkey.

The Americas. Sweet Home Alaska homesteads in the Alaskan wild, and Freewater takes your family into the Great Dismal Swamp, a remarkable place woven deep into American history.

The ends of the earth. For the Explorer drawn to the most remote places on the map, Mr. Popper's Penguins journeys to Antarctica, The Very, Very Far North roams the Arctic, and Nim's Island lands on a wild island in the Galapagos.

For the mapmaker. Some Explorers do not just want to visit the world, they want to chart it. Big Foot and Little Foot and The Last Mapmaker hand your child the cartographer's tools, turning curiosity about faraway places into the skill of mapping them.

The final frontier. And for the Explorer who runs out of Earth and looks up, A Rover's Story leaves the planet altogether for the red dust and distant horizons of Mars.

These guides span a mix of levels, so there is something here for a wide range of ages. You can build a route around the world that fits the ages at your table. Pick the guides that match where each of your explorers wants to travel.

Want to see one of these adventures for yourself before you commit? Download a free week from my Odder guide and travel to Monterey Bay, California, where your child explores the world of sea otters and the kelp forest they call home.