Top Travel-Themed Books for Young Readers

Inspire your child’s sense of adventure with stories that whisk readers away on exciting journeys—whether by plane, train, boat, or even magical means! Below, we’ve curated a selection of books that center around exploration and travel, making perfect companions for young adventurers. This post includes book recommendations, discussion questions, and a fun activity to bring these travel tales to life.

Recommended Books

1. “The Snail and the Whale” by Julia Donaldson

• Follow the heartwarming journey of a little snail who hitches a ride on a humpback whale, experiencing the vastness of the world along the way. This story emphasizes friendship and the joy of seeing new places, even if you’re small.

2. “Journey” by Aaron Becker

• In this wordless, beautifully illustrated book, a young girl embarks on a magical journey through imaginative worlds with just a red marker. Each page transports readers to incredible landscapes and encourages creative storytelling.

3. “How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World” by Marjorie Priceman

• A humorous story about a girl who travels the world to collect ingredients for an apple pie, introducing kids to different countries and cultures along the way. It’s a delightful way to blend cooking and cultural exploration.

Discussion Questions for Parents and Children

1. “If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?”
   • This question allows kids to share their dreams and interests while thinking about what makes different places special.
2. “What do you think would be the most exciting part of traveling with a friend?”
   • Discussing the joys and challenges of shared experiences helps children think about the value of companionship on adventures.
3. “How do you think traveling to new places can change how we see the world?”
   • This question encourages children to consider the benefits of seeing new cultures and environments, nurturing a respect for diversity.

Interactive Activity: “Create Your Own Adventure Passport”

Activity Description:

1. Materials Needed: Small notebook (or folded paper to resemble a passport), crayons, stickers, and markers.
2. Make the Passport: Label the notebook or paper as an “Adventure Passport.” Have your child decorate it with stickers, stamps, or drawings of places they’d like to visit, making it their own personalized travel document.
3. Plan Journeys: After reading each book, help your child “stamp” their passport to mark the journey. For instance, if they traveled with “The Snail and the Whale,” they could draw a whale or an ocean scene in their passport. For Journey, they might draw their favorite imaginative landscape.
4. Fill with Adventure Facts: Add a line or two about each journey. For example, for How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, they could write, “Visited France for wheat and Italy for cheese.” Let them decide where they would get ingredients if they were on a similar journey.
5. Discuss New Places: After each “passport stamp,” take a moment to talk about the places in the stories and any real-world facts you might know about them. This helps children see the connection between storytelling and actual world locations.

Purpose of the Activity

This activity brings an added layer of engagement to each story, encouraging children to imagine themselves as part of each journey. By decorating and filling out their own “passport,” children begin to think of travel as an adventure, just like the characters they’ve read about. This imaginative activity also makes it easy to explore basic geography and cultural curiosity in a hands-on, fun way.

With these travel-themed books and activities, you can open the world up to young explorers, helping them develop a love of stories, different places, and the adventures that await in every corner of the globe.