Customer Reviews

Rand McNally Kids' Road Atlas (Backseat Books)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this expecting simple maps that my daughter could use to track the routes we were driving. Well, it's simplistic all right. It doesn't mark many of the cities we drive through. It is more of a car activity book. It's got puzzles and games to keep children busy, but its maps are more like general overviews of the states. For children younger than seven, this is probably good. Older children would most likely prefer a real road atlas with all the roads and cities marked.

We bought a book for each of our two children. Our eight-year-old stayed busy with the puzzles, and had lots of questions about things on the maps which made for good car conversation (and good geography lessons for all of us). The best part was marking off our route with a highlighter pen at every rest stop; she could track our progress along the way and see exactly what town we were stopping in next. It made the "how much longer?" questions easier to answer ("Look on your map!"). Our six-year-old was slightly too young for some of the puzzles, but liked highlighting the route as well as marking off the license plate state chart (hint: Mt. Rushmore is a treasure trove of license plates!). We will use these atlases on every car trip. Highly recommended.

This would be a better book if it also included an overall map of the country showing all the states, and an index listing each state alphabetically and by region and page number.

The title of this book is misleading-it's not actually an atlas-but it is a great puzzle book! Each page has a state (similar in concept to an atlas) and a puzzle related to the state. There are a variety of puzzles, and kids use the simple maps to help figure out some of the answers. My 6-year-old and 8-year-old have really enjoyed the book. On a long airplane trip, my son worked the puzzles for each state as we flew over it. It's a great and fun way to begin reading maps, too! This book is a superb deal for the price. Actually, all the books in this series are!

I've purchased all three of the books in this series, one for each of our children for our upcoming trip. Of the three (Kid's Road Atlas, Are We There Yet, and the Best Travel Activity Book Ever), this one is the most "educational"

Highlights:

*Good overview of the 50 states with basic highlights for each state (state bird, flower, tree, capital, nickname and a color map)

*There is a puzzle/game on each state page. All of them are connected to the state thematically or factually. The games vary in degree of difficulty and amount of writing required. I'd say our nine-year old could do all of them...our seven year old would be able to do some but not all. Some are quick (2 minutes or less), others are rather involved (15-30 minutes)

*To respond to another reviewer's comment, I did not find the state maps to be overly simplistic. For North Carolina, it lists about 50 towns/cities, all the interstates and some of the state roads, some of the bigger lakes, parks, etc. Especially if you are traveling across several states, this map is enough that they could kind of follow the route, noting towns along the way without being overwhelmed.


*It includes a few pages of map skills at the beginning, and an answer and index at end. It covers all fifty states, and one page for Canada and Mexico.

*It has extended use even after activities are completed as a simple atlas--the pencil games don't mark up the maps--all pages are color.

*Not as glitzy as some, but it should keep my child entertained for awhile while providing some educational value. Plus the price is reasonable.

We recently met in Iowa for a family reunion and our grandchildren were there from CA. I got this book to give them for their return car trip home so they could see where they had been. Mom and Dad always have their own atlas, but this one is great for kids. And, they had to share it. Even though the suggested age for this book is older, the 6 and 7 year old grandkids had no trouble with it. And, if they did, it just created conversation with each other and their parents.

A friend recommended this book before either of us used it on separate 3000 mile car trips. We have three 5 year olds between us: two of them weren't interested in them and the other, reading since 3, liked to look at it occasionally but the activities were over their heads. I think it would be perfect for maybe an 8-9 year old, and I personally thought the activities were varied enough and educational to give it 4 stars. But I have to remember where I stashed them in a few years and try again.

By the way - the best occupier for my twins was the dreaded DVD player. I resisted it until the second day, but since we returned a month ago they have forgotten completely about it. It was a real pain to put in and take out, but it's hidden away and will hopefully not appear until the next mega road trip (which will be VERY far in the future)!

This book is really fun for kids. My 4 year old really enjoyed being able to help navagate on our road trip. The pictures and maps are easy for children to understand. Also, the road games help pass the time on a long road trip. The only problem with the book is the decorative font they used on the heading of each page. It was difficult for my child to read and understand what the letters were. But that was only in the heading of each page. Everything else is very easy to read. Worth the 4 star rating I gave!

This atlas is a great starter atlas for kids 7 to 9. Maps are detailed but easy to read. If you travel off the beaten path smaller communities will not be included but does give the over all larger cities and communities in a state as a good reference to your proximity. This book provides interesting fun facts and games to keep kids occupied for long journeys. Not so large that the book won't fit into a smaller (kid size) back pack, but not so small that the maps cannot be read.

The kids love to find what town we are going to next and figure out how long it will take to get there. No more asking "Are we there yet?" Love this atlas!