Got Geography! [Hardcover]

Lee Bennett Hopkins (Author), Philip Stanton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Geography is more than maps and globes, more than latitude and longitude lines, more than continents, oceans, islands, and your own neighborhood.

In Got Geography! Lee Bennett Hopkins gathers vivid poems by sixteen poets and Philip Stanton creates glorious artwork to show that geography isn't just about finding your way. It's the jumping-off point for dreams and imagination.

If you've got geography, you're ready for adventure. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4 Sixteen selections from a variety of poets explore the curiosity piqued by maps, globes, the land we live on, and places far away. The gentle, often-moving verses cover a wide spectrum of ways to explore the Earth from mapping the world to examining its surface to finding one's place within it. Poems such as Karen O'Donnell Taylor's A Map and a Dream or Maria Fleming's Compass celebrate our study of our planet, while others, such as Joan Bransfield Graham's Awesome Forces, highlight our planet's power over us. Marilyn Singer touts the animals that were our Early Explorers, and Jane Yolen's concluding poem fittingly ponders the horizon. The bright acrylic-and-watercolor illustrations bring energy to the pages and set the mood for each poem. This collection provides a special way to kick off geography studies and to support them throughout the year. Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Hopkins celebrates the excitement of travel, and the maps that help chart the way, in this geography-themed, picture-book collection of poetry. Mostly familiar poets--among them, Jane Yolen and Kristine O'Connell George--contribute selections that vary widely in sophistication. Younger children may not understand some of the references, as in these lines from J. Patrick Lewis' "Mapping the World": "I traced Australia's seamless land-- / Dreamtime of aborigines, / A walkabout through scrub and sand." In addition, the brightly colored, full-spread acrylic paintings, which suggest an elementary-age audience, seem at odds with the more sophisticated selections. Still, many poems present concepts with playful accessibility. Kathryn Madeline Allen speaks in the boastful voice of the equator: "I clearly am . . . the only one--who / splits the globe in half." And Carl Sandburg makes concepts instantly relevant: "When you dance, it is the / North Pole or the South Pole pulling . . . like / magnets to keep your feet on the earth. / And that's why we got geography." Suggest this for use across the curriculum. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060556013
• ISBN-13: 978-0060556013
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,065,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poems for Geography lovers, November 24, 2007

By 

Kathryn Degler "songbird" (Kansas City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Got Geography! (Hardcover)

I'm a Montessori teacher of elementary geography so I was delighted when I found this book in the library. I purchased my own copy soon after. There are poems extolling the virtues of geography, an amusing tribute to the equator, selections from poems from well known poets such as Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman as well as from less familiar poets. I use the poems to introduce new topics in geography. They also make excellent penmanship lessons.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful poems and spectacular art., March 17, 2006

By 

maxbev (Naples) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Got Geography! (Hardcover)

A friend recomended me this colorful picture book for my daughter. The poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins run a wide range of emotions and sensations and all have a playful and exuberant use of language.

Many also include references which will start young readers exploring their maps and the internet in order to fully appreciate the poems.

The artwork is simply spectacular with splashy colors and funky perspectives. A very unique picture book well worth a look.

Our personal favorite:
"Mapping the World" by J.Patrick Lewis, the sophisticated image and intelligent verses are perfectly combined and a great way to start the book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Got Geography!, June 29, 2011

By 

Heidi Grange (Logan, UT United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Got Geography! (Hardcover)

I knew the moment I read the title that I needed to get this book. My passion for geography demanded it. The book did not disappoint.

I especially liked the first poem by J. Patrick Lewis where he briefly describes each of the seven continents. It amazes me how much information about manages to squeeze in. I plan to use this poem with my older students this coming school year. I've decided to use this summer's reading theme (One World, Many Stories) as my theme for the upcoming school year. This poem fits in perfectly with that. I also especially liked the poem by Kathryn Madeline Allen where she personifies the Equator, what a fun idea. I might use this one to have my students personify each of the seven continents.

I confess freely that I am all about color. I love bright cheerful colors and the illustrations in this book are full of them. The bright colors help convey the idea that the world around us, however small, is a fascinating and interesting place, full of new places to see and new adventures to go on. This book does encourage the travel bug, sigh, for those of us without the funds to do so, but it also encourages exploration of the seemingly small places around us. It is amazing sometimes how much about the place I live that I am missing out on. Highly recommended for those who want to see the world.