Here are our favorite kids' picture books about the world!
We can't always be traveling, but we still want to keep reminding our kids (and ourselves) how big the world is and reading about the world in a variety of ways (fiction and non-fiction) is a great way to do that! Use these books to learn real world facts about all things planet earth, teach appreciation of diversity, build empathy and a bigger worldview, or just as travel inspiration! We read these all the time.
Without further ado...
Written + Illustrated by: Sophie Blackall
About this book: This is... wait for it... MY FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF ALL TIME. That is saying something, as we own hundreds of books plus have a nonprofit dedicated to literacy. I will write an entire ode to this book in a separate post, but you need this book. It's the most beautiful and intricately illustrated book I've ever seen. The writing is simple but so thoughtful and can literally bring tears to my eyes (and that is really saying something - not a crier over here). She wrote the book as if she's telling a little alien all about earth. She got help from kids all over the planet on the text, and their worldview just shines. We love it. If you ever came to daily story time at my old coffee shop, you alreay knew this and you've heard it several times. If you're friends with me, you already own it (as I shipped you a copy). :) Anyway, just get the book here.
Written by: Daniela Celli
Illustrated by: Giulia Lombardo
About this book: This giant book has little write-ups about dozens of monuments around the world. It's organized by monument, and the author starts each write-up with a short intro to your local guide and the jumps into the history of each monument. On each of the intro pages, you can find fast facts (like location, size, year it was built + number of years it took to build, etc.). Plus it's beautifully illustrated. It says 8+ for the text portion, but honestly our kids love looking at the large scale illustrations at any age. We got ours at Barnes + Noble, but you can get it here.
Written by: Elizabeth Carney
Art director: Eva Absher-Schantz
About this book: This is a great first non-fiction book for little ones. It's organized in sections by continent, and for each continent, it provides maps and basic info about the weather, animals, and sights. Plus there are activities at the end of each section that you can do at home. It's listed as ages 3-6, but there are definitely facts in there that even I don't know, so I think it's fair to say it can stretch to up to 10 or so. We got ours here.
Written + Illustrated by: Matt Lamothe
About this book: Love this book! It follows seven real-life kids from around the world and tells you all about their daily life. You can read it as it's laid out, or you can follow just one kid throughout the book - so you get a full picture of just their life in their city. It's seriously the best because the scenarios relate to everyday life that even young kids can relate to (i.e. this is what I eat for breakfast) and all the kids I read it with are always so surprised by some of the answers. It was the first book we read with our kids to show them how diverse the world really is, and they still read it today. It says ages 3-7, and I think that is perfect. We got ours here.
Written + illustrated by: Peter Spier
About this book: This book has been around forever (well, since 1980). The sentences are short and direct, but the message is powerful. Throughout the large scale book, the author speaks to so many differences across humans - our personalities, homes, families, bodies, religions, languages - and he provides so many beautiful example illustrations. Plus he weaves in big topics in small bites (e.g. "what makes some people laugh makes others cry"). At the end, he summarizes by talking about how critical it is that we are all different, as it makes the world such a special place. Anyway - go buy it here!
Britannica All New Kids' Encyclopedia
Written + illustrated by: What on Earth Publishing + Britannica Books
About this book: You know that you loved a good Britannica encyclopedia where you were a kid! This one takes it a step further by having lots of photos and illustrations. I mean, this is obviously because it is an encylopedia, but I feel like I have to say this - there is SO much information in here. It's organized by topic (universe, life, matter. etc.), and there are even little tests at the end of each section. Our kids love this one! And although there are definitely some excerpts that can be enjoyed by younger kids, I think this one is best for 4+. Get it here.
Written by: Nicola Edwards
Illustrated by: Andrea Stegmaier
About this book: This newly published book was recommended by another blogger (@alwaysastorybook), and I feel like she shared the coolest secret with us when she shared this book! It covers SO much information about relatable parts of kids' lives from around the world. Since it's jam-packed, we usually pick a few pages each night to read, and the kids are astounded about how differently we all do the same things. Like 'how we cure cough and colds' with little remedies from around the world. It's an absolute gem, and a great gift because it's so new that almost nobody has it yet! Find it here.
Written + illustrated by: Oliver Jeffers
About this book: You know this author/illustrator from The Day the Crayons Quit series plus Emily's personal favorite book (that she has memorized in full), What We'll Build. But anyway, this book has a similar style - short sentences with funny notes. For example, it's covering the overview of the body as it says "Look after it, as most bits don't grow back." with a little drawing off to the side of hair and nails and an arrow pointing with the text "bits that grow back". It's written as an intro to earth to a baby, so it's a great gift to a new parent that loves to travel (even obviously the content won't be interesting until the kid is at least a toddler). We got ours here.
Written by: Jonathan Litton
Illustrated by: L'atelier Cartographik
About this book: This is a large format book that teaches you how to say hello in almost every place on earth! Each page covers one continent, and includes little flaps (you know your kids love flaps) that you can pop up to see how to pronounce 'hello' in that country (phonetically) and how many people speak the language. It's fun to try out the different languages and look at the little character illustrations from each place. You can get yours here.
Written by: Rachel Williams
Illustrated by: Lucy Letherland
About this book: This large format book is basically international vacation inspiration for kids! It covers in detail 30 fun things to do across the world, and each adventure if full of beautiful illustrations and fun facts. Plus the summary of each continent is jam-packed with other fun adventures - so there is no shortage of inspiration here! It's great for all ages since it covers the basics but also some of the detailed info too. Get your copy here!
Written by: Alexa Ward
Illustrated by: Ryan Thomman
About this book: If you travel, you know Lonely Planet. ;) So it isn't surprising that when they write a book for kids, they make sure to cover every single country. There is only a little excerpt on each one, but the pictures are also so beautiful that it can also serve as travel inspo too. And I'd say it's probably best for kids that are 6+ for the text portion. Get yours here!
Written by: Kate Siber
Illustrated by: Lydia Hill
About this book: File this under kids' travel inspiration! We love to travel the world looking for cool places, but this book taught me that we have SO much right in our backyard! It's actually amazing what our 50 states have to offer. No wonder we call this place America, the Beautiful! :) My kids are now asking on a regular basis for me to take them to Oklahoma and Kansas... which I definitely did not expect to be on their radar! Lol! It's large format and beautiful, so get it here.
Cleary we love books, as we plan to post a second part to this list of books we love.... You can never have too many books... right? Right??
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