Give Your Kids the World

Our world is getting smaller and smaller. We have the opportunity to interact with people from many different countries and cultures. 

As we raise our kids or interact with kids, we have an opportunity to open up the world for them through books. Stories of other cultures—major events of the country, their traditions, and thought processes—can teach kids empathy and lead them to a better understanding of the world and its people.

One book that can help you in this is, Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time. Jamie C. Martin shares her family’s favorite fiction and nonfiction books that can help you in your quest to raise kids with a global perspective. The chapters include books featuring Africa, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, and Australia, Oceania, and the Polar Regions.

Here are some of her recommendations to get you started, but I highly suggest you pick up this book for the full list. There are so many fantastic books.

Africa:

1. Journey to Jo’Burg, by Beverley Naidoo (South Africa)
2. Year of No Rain, by Alice Mead (Sudan)
3. The Kidnapped Prince: the Life of Olaudah Equiano, by Ann Cameron (Benin)

Europe:

1. The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sis (Czech Republic)
2. A Day on Skates: The Story of a Dutch Picnic, by Hilda van Stockum (Netherlands)
3. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, by Laura Amy Schlitz (England)

Asia:

1. Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus (Japan)
2. The Conch Bearer, by Chitra Banerjee (India)
3. Year of Impossible Goodbyes, by Sook Nyul Choi (Korea)

Middle East:

1. Iqbal, by Francesco D’Adamo (Pakistan)
2. Snow in Jerusalem, by Deborah da Costa (Israel)
3. Shooting Kabul, by N.H. Senzai (Afghanistan)

North America:

1. Journey to Topaz: A Story of Japanese-American Evacuation, by Yoshiko Uchida (Japan/US)
2. Hawk, I’m Your Brother, by Byrd Baylor (Native American)
3. Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (African American)

Latin America:

1. Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert, by Gary D. Schmidt (Peru)
2. In My Family/En mi familia, by Carmen Lomas Garza (Mexico)
3. Journey to the River Sea, by Eva Ibbotson (Brazil)

Australia, Oceania, and The Polar Regions:

1. Fatty Legs: A True Story, by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (Antarctica)
2. The Silver Brumby, by Elyne Mitchell (Australia)
3. Shackleton’s Journey, by William Grill (Antarctica)

Have fun as you use your reading time to travel the world and experience new cultures. Expand your kid’s world and help them build understanding of the people who live on this vast and beautiful planet. Happy reading!