Review Detail

From Here to There: A First Book of Maps is a wonderful introduction to different types of maps and how they can be used.

Anna receives a letter from her friend Zane inviting her to a play date at his apartment. He includes a hand-drawn map so Anna can find his apartment. Anna decides she wants to draw a map and her dad shows her various types of maps that help inspire Anna.

What I Liked: I loved how the story simplified maps in a way that young readers can understand. The picture map in particular is a fun map to read and I like how the illustrator used familiar community buildings like the library and the coffee shop as part of the map.

What Left Me Wanting More: I thought the book did a wonderful job of teaching readers about different maps and terminology but I was confused by them teaching about family trees. Yes, it is a type of map, but it seemed like a harder concept to understand and didn't make sense to the story. Instead, I would have liked them to just build upon the map skills they already mentioned.

Teachers will love this book to help them reinforce map skills in school-aged children.