Ready to Travel? Let the Tiny Travelers Lead the Way

 A purpose-driven family brand of learning materials, ENCANTOS, has provided sample copies for me to examine in the past. I've been impressed and enthused about the titles I reviewed, HERE, The design and construction of these board books for toddlers are appealing and durable, with content that engages and informs, offering oral language and listening as play, in English and Spanish. I've been eager to see a sample of their TINYTRAVELERS.COM books. When this title reached me recently, I was not disappointed.

Tiny Travelers United States Treasure Quest, created by Wolfe & Jaramillo, extends their titles in this series. Each features a virtual "tour" of a specific country, from Japan to Mexico to Puerto Rico and more. All are produced in similar format and physical design, with colorful, substantial construction and durable binding. This would readily survive toddler handling, but in this case the audience feels directed to preschool/early childhood kids. In each case, a similar pattern provides young audiences with a familiar template from page to page and book to book. 

Beginning with an overview map, each following double spread features a few rhyming lines of information related to the scene and the "treasure" sought on that page, along with a few related details. There is a stamp-shaped challenge question in the upper corner, and the designated item can be found within the richly detailed pages, confirmed with surrounding "sparkly stars. Familiar human faces and one cheerful pup appear on many of the pages. 

All of this will be very appealing for young explorers, although it could be a bit overwhelming (the first time through) for those with sensory-overload issues. Any who enjoy a search-style challenge will find this a delightful challenge, since the scenes are so varied and provide nearly countless opportunities to practice, develop, and extend language/vocabulary naturally. 

In my opinion, the highlight and greatest strengths of this book, and of the series, are the intentional diversity of the settings, the people who are illustrated, and the less-than-typical activities and interests depicted. In this case, the spreads range from Washington, D. C., to a First Nations PowWow, to National Parks, from a New Orleans jazz parade to a Hawaiian Lei Day celebration, and more. It surprised to me that some pages labeled the individual items (Thanksgiving feast foods) while other pages did not. Overall, this certainly felt it would best serve actually "learning" when shared with a somewhat instructional approach, but could easily invite independent exploration and conversation among young ones. 

Though this "board book" format is not typical for the target age, it suits the subject matter well. That includes the advantage of being able to fully open each spread to lie flat, allowing it to be examined closely. When I shared this book with kids they quickly sprawled on the floor and laid it open in front of them. It also offers interactive features that include a check-off page at the end to tally the treasures found, and QR code to link to website activities related to the book.

I'm convinced this will appeal to a wide age range, and that just might include the adults who share the book with them. Maybe that reaction is a result of our long isolation due to the Covid 19 pandemic, or simply because each page of travel is lively, inviting, and 100% SAFE!

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher with no promise of a review. 

AN UPDATE:  June 1, 2021

Two recent additions to this series reached me this week, and I'd like to call them to your attention.

TINY TRAVELERS: HAITI Treasure Hunt

and 

TINY TRAVELERS: FRANCE Treasure Hunt

provide worthy and inviting explorations and information. I have utterly NO authority from personal experience about the choices made in topics and content, but I did some cross-checking and a surface level investigation indicates that these titles continue to offer young American readers a sense of the appeal and excitement of travel. Openminded learning is of immeasurable value, and these sturdy, vibrant board books strike the right note for presenting unfamiliar landscapes, cultures, and histories in ways that invite further study. They certainly are interactive and engaging. 

The related website, TINYTRAVELERS.COM, offers opportunities to spend your money, which I am not endorsing. You can also find a "Learning Hub" for free, at which you can download numerous activity sheets related to geography, animals, habitats, cultures, languages, and more. I am NOT a huge fan of "worksheets", but these seem like reasonable options for reading/writing/research activities of choice for young ones who become fascinated with global travel. I

n fact, the tagline for the site is "Citizens of the World", which feels like a worthy identity pin these days of separation and strife.

so, if you and your young ones are feeling tethered to home, these could be welcome choices for virtual travel.

Again, books were provided by the publisher with no promise of a review.

Refugees on STORMY SEAS: A Never-Ending Story

The surface of our planet is more than 70% water, so it is no surprise that a major method of transportation, throughout history, has been by boat. Whether water travel is viewed as luxurious, adventurous, necessary, worrisome, or terrifying depends largely on a person's options and reasons for travel. Certainly the vast majority of those onboard the Titanic, even the seasick, employees, and immigrants (unlikely to ever see native lands again) began their journey with the reasonable expectation of arriving safely at a US port in a matter of days. At worst, it was a temporary discomfort undertaken for a valued purpose. At best, it was a glorious adventure and a status symbol, even for those whose status was in no need of bolstering.

Certainly, none of those boarding could have imagined that an iceberg would change their perceptions and their fates in a matter of hours. 

On the other hand, a boat trip as a refugee is only undertaken with the reasonable expectation of death. Empathy alone doesn't allow us to put ourselves in the desperate-but-hopeful mindset of refugees boarding objects that bear less resemblance to boats than do the crayon sketches of toddlers. 
Refugees are people fleeing fates more horrid than we can possibly imagine. Sadly, they are real and very conceivable to the refugees themselves. That's been true throughout the plight of "boat people" spanning millennia, hemispheres, and ethnicities.

Annick Press, April, 2017

STORMY SEAS: STORIES OF YOUNG BOAT PEOPLE addresses that long history of refugees. Written by Mary Beth Leatherdale and illustrated by Eleanor Shakespeare, this picture book aimed at middle grade readers opens with a timeline of "boat people" that precedes the Mayflower. Five true stories from refugee history on the water are humanized through the eyes of actual young people:
Ruth and her family escaping Nazism; Phu fleeing war-torn Vietnam; Jose  escaping Cuba; Najeeba leaving Afghanistan and the Taliban; Mohamed, an orphan, runs from his village on the Ivory Coast. 

I agree entirely with the synopsis from Indiebound.org: 
"...Stormy Seas combines a contemporary collage-based design, sidebars, fact boxes, timeline and further reading to produce a book that is ideal for both reading and research. Readers will gain new insights into a situation that has constantly been making the headlines."
I'll go so far as to call this an extraordinary resource, compelling in content and useful as a resource to launch research. From the introductory timeline of  "boat people" who have attempted escapes through to the more recent examples, these stories all depict refugees pursuing an opportunity to make new homes in an area of North America that eventually becomes the United States. Naturally, our current global refugee crisis is dealt with at the conclusion.
My only caution is to include additional books and information in refugee discussions to balance the "America-centric" approach. There are stories of refugees with other destinations throughout the world, and of other countries who are facing the moral decicion of extending a welcoming hand or slamming shut their ports of entry.

Certainly safety and reasonable screening are necessary considerations for any nation. But our neighbor to the north, Canada, has dealt with those issues of national concern while still finding ways to offer refugees new opportunities and safe places to live. I posted a review about another recent picture book, STEPPING STONES: A REFUGEE FAMILY'S JOURNEY (here), and an extensive interview with its Canadian author, Margriet Ruers, here. If you missed those posts, I urge you to read them.

I endorse and am inspired by Anne Frank's memorable quote:

This positive view of human nature leads me forward, but history insists that human nature and nature itself are capable of unleashing devastating circumstances. These include conditions that force people to set foot aboard frighteningly fragile boats, literally and figuratively. Even the most optimistic among us must be realistic. We know that the specifics may change but  "refugee crisis" will repeat and repeat in the millennia ahead. The question should be asked of readers, while they are young, to consider fully what our response can and should be. Books like these allow them to research, debate, analyze, and empathize.

After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, conditions were so unlivable that thousands of Haitians were evacuated with special longterm visas to live in the USA.Those visas are currently under review, with their termination becoming a real possibility. This return of Haitian natives to a fragile homeland comes at the very time when conditions in Haiti are deteriorating to such a degree that residents are resorting to the high-risk boat route to reach the unwelcoming shores of our country. NPR's Weekend Edition aired a brief but very informative description of this here.