A Book of Maps for You
Review posted June 6, 2025.
Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2025. 40 pages.
Review written June 3, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
Well, I ordered this picture book for our library, but have discovered I didn't order nearly enough - all copies are checked out and there are more than that many holds, so today I ordered more. I checked out the book myself (having placed a hold that came in) to see what the fuss was about. I was charmed.
Yes, this picture book gives kids an idea of how maps work - but even more wonderful is the warm and friendly story it tells.
I didn't really notice when I first opened the book that the title page shows a boy in a big empty top floor room working at a table by a window. There's a skylight in the slanted roof to one side, and a cat sleeping on a rolled-up carpet.
The next page focuses in on the table where the boy is working. It says, "I made a book of maps." And below those words is the same book we see on the cover of this book, with the title "A Book of Maps for You."
It starts with a map of town, also mentioning the orange groves that bloom every year. Then it zooms in to a map of a particular street and tells about the particular people who live in each house on that street, including nice things these people have done. Further maps include a little farm in town, the school, the library, a pirate map from a story in a book in the library, the park behind the library, main street, and more.
So every spread has a map, and every map has personal details about that place, so we get to know the town and the people an all the fun things you can do there.
And then at the end we are looking out the front porch, and the Book of Maps is taped right in front of the door, and the kid is getting into a car behind a moving van. Then on the next page we see a new kid sitting on the front porch, looking at the book - and moving boxes are in the living room, and we see that her family is moving into the house that the other kid just moved out of. And that was when I turned back to the title page and saw what I might have noticed right away - that the first kid made this whole lovely book to welcome the new kid to town.
And the whole thing left me with a warm and friendly feeling. What a way to get a start in a new place. And kids who read the story may find themselves making their own maps, even if they're not moving away.