Armchair Travels with a Bear

A dear Mommy-Friend of mine made a good point in her comment on my last post that summer road trip travel can be really hard with young children.

And long trips to faraway places are hard on any age.
  

So I'm excited about two books by Isela Archenti I'm featuring today, because, really, how many of us will ever get to Peru or India except via a book?  Let's hear it for Chrisy Bear and armchair travel!

Author/Illustrator Isela Archenti was born in Lima Peru. She moved to New York to become a graphic designer, and create children’s books. She loves everything related to children's designs like toys, clothing and books, and she is happy to share her love of travel with kids in her picture books.

She's written and illustrated two books featuring a curious little polar bear named Chrisy, who chooses where to go with his family on vacation with the random spin of a globe. Today I'm featuring Isela's second book Chrisy Bear Goes to India, which can be purchased here on Amazon.

Your kids will learn fun facts about the culture, people, and history of India.  Open the book and travel first to Mumbai.  Did you know that there is a building there that was built to celebrate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911?

I really like the way the photos of the bear family are superimposed over Isela's colorfully drawn backgrounds.  She places the bears in interesting settings like caves, a train station, a fort, and a street bazaar.

Isela does a great job of keeping young readers' attention by having Chrisy Bear constantly ask questions of different people and (talking) animals. As the bear family continue on their journey, they learn interesting things from a cow in Goa and an elephant in Mysore.  Chrisy learns why Jaipur is called the "Pink City" and how to say "thank you" in Hindi.

This book would be especially perfect for homeschoolers, and could initiate further discussion of culture and history, as well as map exploration.  I think any child aged 4-7 would love to travel along with Chrisy Bear!