Teaching Geography with Children’s Literature: Come and ride with us!

Introduction and Summary

Come and ride with us shares a journey to different countries such as Haiti, Canada, Hong Kong, Peru, and a few others and shows children how people in different countries use different types of transportation to get around. This book was put together by Oxfam and illustrated by Annie Kubler and Caroline Formby. A child from each country takes the reader on a journey within their country. For example, we meet Aisha from Egypt. She explains that in Egypt she rides on a donkey who pulls a cart as her transportation around town. She carries clover and hay in the cart for their cattle. Abdul from Bangladesh tells us that they ride on rickshaws which can either be by auto or bicycle.  Pedaling can be very hard work! It is very interesting to see how some of the children get around in countries that do not have cars and automobiles that American children are used to seeing everyday.

Curriculum Connections

This book features flaps that show hidden items such as food or cargo that each mode of transportation carries. It can be used in Kindergarten or First Grade. I believe that it fits in more so with First Grade. It shows different modes of transportation, clothing of people in different countries, food, houses of shelter the people live in, and what the children do for fun such as playing sports, fishing, or sledding. In the back of the book there is also a map of the world and it asks you to locate all the different countries in the book. (VA SOL 1.6: The student will describe how location, climate, and physical surroundings affect the way people live, including their food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and recreation.)

Additional Resources

1) Additional Activities

2)  Map Game

3) Geography Game, Children match countries onto a globe. It is timed and counts points so this can be very challenging.

General Information

Book: Come and ride with us!
Author: Oxfam International
Illustrators: Annie Kubler and Caroline Formby
Publisher: Child’s Play International Ltd.
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 16
Grade Range: K, 1st
ISBN: 0859537943