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Looking for some good, child-friendly books about the continents to teach your kids a lesson in world geography? We did our geography unit a while back when my kids were in preschool and kindergarten, and I realized that there were surprisingly very few books available to teach kids about the continents.
Nonetheless, I’ve rounded up a few of the books that are out there and I have reviewed them below for your convenience. Fortunately there are some good books for kids from preschool through late elementary school.
Note: For more geography resources see my Geography Unit Study page.
Montessori: Map Work by Bobby George and June George
This is a beautiful, Montessori-inspired book about the continents. In this book, each continent is presented with a unique color on the map (although faithful Montessorians may notice that the colors used for each continent are not the typical ones used in Montessori continent materials). Each continent is also presented as a shape to trace, and the book includes texture that invites children to trace the edge of each continent in order to engage the sense of touch. Finally, each continent is presented along with three animals that are native to that continent, such as bison, moose, and bald eagles for North America, and cockatoos, koalas, and kangaroos for Australia. The book is well constructed and is beautiful to look at. My kids really enjoyed the tactile aspect of the book that invited them to trace each of the continents. My son also had lots of questions about the animals for each region. Ages 3 to 6.
Counting the Continents by Ellen Mitten
This book provides a very simple introduction to the continents. It starts by explaining that we call the large land areas on our planet “continents.” It then introduces the continents one by one. The book provides one factoid for each continent, such as the fact that Asia is the largest continent and Europe is the only continent that does not have deserts. The book also provides an image for each continent (it would have been nice if the image matched the factoid). For Africa, the image is a cheetah and for South America the image is of a tropical rain forest. The book ends by stating that there are seven continents, and it invites children to get out a map or globe to find them. The back of the book includes a glossary with definitions for new terms. Ages 4 to 7.
National Geographic Kids Beginner’s World Atlas by National Geographic
This beautiful children’s atlas from National Geographic explains what a map is, shows how maps make a round world look flat, and differentiates between the physical world and the political world. The book then goes into more details on each of the seven continents, and all of the pages include rich illustrations and eye catching photographs that children will enjoy. Ages 5 to 10.
The ABCs of Continents by Bobbie Kalman
This book goes through all 26 letters of the alphabet to address some aspect of the continents, from the fact that so many continent names start with an ‘A’ to the different climate zones on earth. Although this book would not be my first choice to introduce the continents to children due to the way it is structured, it is a nice book of interesting information for children who are already familiar with the continents. Ages 6 to 10.
Explore Earth’s Seven Continents by Bobbie Kalman
This book by the same author as The ABCs of Continents reviewed above explains what a continent is before offering a friendly overview of each of the seven continents with pictures, information about famous landmarks, and more. Ages 7 to 10.
Continents by Sandy Sepehri
This book provides some information about how the continents have changed over time from one supercontinent called Pangaea over 248 million years ago to the seven continents we recognize today. The book then provides a bit of information on each of the seven modern continents. The information provided focuses on major geographical features as well as some information about the population and industry on each continent. Ages 8 to 12.
More geography resources
More geography posts from Gift of Curiosity:
- Books about maps and globes
- Montessori mapping activities
- Montessori directionality activities
- How to make a working compass
- Introduction to land, air, and water
- Montessori continents activities
- Teaching the continents by making a globe
- Montessori landform activities
- Montessori continents and world map printables
- Animals and their continents
You can find more kid-friendly geography activities on my geography unit study page and my Geography Activities for Kids Pinterest Board.