Hi! I was looking for recommendations for living books that would be good to use with my younger elementary kids (age 6 and age 8) that works well for a geography study but more based in Asia than in the Americas. Any recommendations? We live in south east asia and I thought starting with living books based on where we live would help my boys better. I have seen some good recommendations for living geography books, but they all seemed to be based in the Americas.
“The Children of China: An Artist’s Journey by Song Nan Zhang
A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman
Grandfather Tang’s Story: A Tale Told with Tangrams by Ann Tompert
Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia by Ted and Betsy Lewin
Kami and the Yaks by Andrea Stenn Stryer
Kampung Boy by Lat
The Life of Rice: From Seedling to Supper by Richard Sobol (This book is out of print, but a library near you may have a copy.)
The Way We Do It in Japan by Geneva Cobb Iijima
Yasmin’s Hammer by Ann Malaspina”
We love the Little Pear books by Eleanor Frances Lattimore, about Little Pear, a Chinese boy, and his family and friends. They take place in the early 1900s, so if you’re looking for literature about current Asia, they won’t fit. But they are perfect for your boys’ ages, and the illustrations by the author are just stellar, imho.