7 Books to inspire children to travel the world

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” -Saint Augustine.

There are a lot of inspiring travel quotes out there, but this one is one of my favorites. I suppose it is because it combines two of my favorite things: books and travel. These are also the two things that I’m so hopeful we’ll inspire our children to love as much as we do.

Naturally, then, if you glance through our library of kids’ books, you’ll notice an awful lot of them have to do with children who want to see the world. Some of these are playful, some of them are gorgeous and all of them are just make you want to see the world. So, today I thought I’d share our best recommendations of books to inspire children to see the world: preschooler and toddler edition.

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1. The Snail and the Whale, by Julia Donaldson. This books is more about travel generally than any particular place specifically, but it is so lovely and soothing that it had to make the list. Lovely images, beautiful rhyming prose. Told through the eyes of a snail who wants to see the world, it will certainly help inspire your children to do the same! 

The Snail and the Whale is available at Amazon for $15.19 as a hardcover and $6.99 as paperback at the time of this article.

2. Busy, Busy World, by Richard Scarry. These are the books of my childhood; I remember very specifically reading What Do People Do All Day? over and over at my grandpa’s house growing up and I was so touched when my mom gave me a copy when I was pregnant with my son. I recently discovered there was a Busy, Busy World edition and promptly bought it for my kids, and all three of of us love! The great thing about these books is there are so many pictures that each time you read you notice something new.

At the time of this writing, Busy, Busy World is available on Amazon for $13.12.

3. Madeline (and Madeline in London and Madeline in America!), by Ludwig Bemelmans  I bought this book for my daughter long before we moved to Sicily just because we loved it, but reading it right before our Paris trip was fun because we knew we’d be seeing the sights in person soon enough! A good pick for piquing your kids’ interest in visiting France and — if you go with one of the sequels — London or America.

At the time of this writing, Madeline is available at Amazon in hardback for $13.66 or paperback for $8.94

4. My Aunt Came Back, by Pat Cummings. I receive this book as a gift from my aunt, and it is fantastic! The aunt in question is coming back from places that kids are less likely to have heard of — Kathmandu and Bucharest, for example — and my crew and I had fun finding each place on the map. The bright colors and rhymes should appeal especially to younger kids.

My Aunt Came Back is available on Amazon for $5.51 at the time of this writing. 

5. Around the World with Mouk, by Marc Boutavant. This gorgeous book follows Mouk the Bear on a journey that starts in a French cafe and leads all around the world! It is more interactive than most books, with search-and-find challenges and reusable stickers. Super cute!

Around the World with Mouk is available on Amazon in hardback only for $13.78.

6. At the Same Moment, Around the World, by Clotilde Perrin. This gorgeous book has two benefits: giving kids a peek into people and places across the globe, and teaching them about time zones as well. The art is stunning even online and I can’t wait to get my hands on it in real life. *Update: we have it and it is as gorgeous as I hoped.

At the Same Moment, Around the World is available at Amazon in hardback for $14.37 at this time. 

7. This is the World, by Miroslav Sasek. This book is a compilation of a lot of kids books that Sasek has written about various cities across the world. It was a Book of the Year finalist and looks absolutely gorgeous. I will warn that it is listed as being for older kids (10+) though I’ve never been one to follow those recommendations too much. 

This is the World is available on Amazon in hardback only for $27.40 as of Nov.4, 2017. 

I’d like you all to know that I’m resisting very hard — despite my deep affection for the books — the urge to include the illustrated versions of the Harry Potter books on the grounds that a) They aren’t particularly travel related, except perhaps to encourage people to want to visit London and b) most people aren’t reading them to their younger children. (Though Owie and I have been reading them since he was about 3.5).

Ooops! It seems resistence was futile. Sorry, but I couldn’t help myself. Owen and I are currently reading the third illustrated book (they are being released one-per-year each October, and this one just came out for 2017) and, like the other two, Jim Kay’s art is breathtaking. If you are a fan, you need to own these books.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: The Illustrated Edition is available at Amazon right now for $21.30, and is 100 percent worth every penny.

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