Kids hear and read names of places in connection to history, people, events, books, vacation plans - everywhere! But without an understanding of geography, all places only mean "somewhere." This series aims to help children commit maps of regions to memory. With simple, fun instructions, children start at one end of a region and work their way around until they can easily draw the whole region from memory. Pages have the featured state or country name at the top, tan backgrounds and a colorful border across the bottom featuring buildings, landmarks, animals, and vehicles representative of the region. The middle of each page holds the surrounding states/countries/features learned so far, bordered in black and labeled with their abbreviation (states) or name (countries, major bodies of water), and the one being learned bordered in red along with memorable instructions for drawing it. For example, Learn to Draw Africa begins with drawing the Red Sea: "At the top, right side of the paper (not too close to the edge), begin with the Red Sea. It's easy to draw; it looks like a slug oozing its way up toward the top of the page." From there you'll add countries moving westward and then south, one at a time, until you can draw the whole continent! Text is a handwritten font and outlines are simple sketches. Though an actual map is always a nice resource, these simplified shapes will be much easier for young students to draw than all those little nooks and bumps! To contrast this series with the Drawing Around the World series, this book's sole focus is being able to draw the region and uses simple shapes, while Drawing Around the World also includes state/country facts and information, review of state/country names, blank map labeling, and more exact borders. Drawing Around the World is a write-in series, while you will practice these books with your own paper. Books run approximately 65 pages, measure 8.5"x11", sc. - Steph
