Customer Reviews

There's a Map on My Lap!: All About Maps (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Cat in the Hat's Learning Library books are all great tools to get beginning readers to read and explore different topics at the same time.

There's a Map on my Lap is my favorite in this series. It explains in typical Cat in the Hat rhyme and stance all the different uses for maps.
It explains the difference between a globe and a map, what latitudes and longitudes and other features of maps are. You learn to read a map by using the windrose or a grid.
The book goes well beyond town or country maps. It features weather maps, topographical maps and even marine charts.

What truly separates this book from the crowd: it is shockfull of hands-on things to do. It begins with peeling an orange while leaving the skin in one piece to demonstrate what a world map should really look like - brilliant idea! Then it goes on to make a map of your room, town, imaginary countries. Or how to measure the length of a curved road on a map using a straight ruler and string.

At the end of the book you find a glossary that explains the "big" words like topographical map and others again. Also a list of more books about maps and globes for children.
If you like doing hands on things with your preschool through 2nd graders this book is for you! Hours of fun and education all rolled into one big happy Cat in the Hat poem.

This book is classic Dr. Seuss...fun, silly, and children don't realize they're learning something. Great book for teaching about maps. I bought this for my 6 year old prior to going on vacation. We had been looking at maps and talking about what states we'd be driving through on our trip. He enjoyed listening to the book and because of the way the information is presented (fun and silly rhymes), he has retained what he learned. He has even referred back to specific bits of information we read from the book (i.e. Never Eat Shredded Wheat to remember North, East, South and West.)

The back of the book contains a glossary of terms mentioned in the book. Highly recommended as an additional tool for teaching about maps.

This is a fun book for introducing young children to maps. I will use it in my early childhood classroom but I wish I'd had it when my own chldren were young. They would have loved it!

Children enjoyed this book. Used in map unit for PS and elem. settings.

I love, love Dr. Seuss books. My 3 children and I have read them all. Even the ones you have never heard of. I appreciate the effort, but there is much lacking for it to be called a genuine Dr. Seuss book. The boys like it, but it is not one they pull off the shelf to read. They would rather "The Cat in the Hat", or "Green Eggs and Ham" (or any of the others).
It has to be my idea to read this one.
I do realize that it is a non-fiction book, but the rhythm & some of the rhymes just don't work. I think they could have done a little more to make it "sing-song". That's what makes a Seuss book!

As a cartographer and GIS student I am forever being asked "But what do you DO?". Now that I have nieces and nephews on the way I will be getting a copy of this for each one that comes along so they all can learn about what "Aunteesa" does at work! Love this book--was introduced to it in one of my GIS classes by the instructor who actually includes it in lectures! Amazingly accurate portrait of cartography in a kid's book....love it.

I have yet to buy a Cat in the Hat Learning Library that me and my kids did not like. I even learn something from these books!!

My two young boys enjoy reading this book. Great rhyming in Dr. Seuss style (although not written by Dr. Seuss). And some great map/directional terms to be teaching young ones.

This book was basically great, although some of the Dr. Seuss-style rhyming was just a tad confusing in the map-reading examples. I'd recommend adults read it over first, and if you are reading to--or with--kids who aren't familiar with the Seuss style, just skip over some of the names. Other kids may enjoy that part.

Overall this is a great book on map reading. Parents may want to read it with their kids before going on a road trip, have them practice some map-reading skills at home (including a blueprint-style map of the rooms in their home), then try to find some very simple maps for the kids to read on the road, depending on their ages.

This summer we organized some day camps to help young family members learn to read, which included numerous treasure hunts to practice reading skills. On the final day we read this book, then the big blowout treasure hunt led them to a hidden bag of puzzle pieces. When they put the puzzle together, it was a map of a couple rooms in our house, with red arrows pointing to the location of their next clue. The kids loved it (and they didn't mind the treasure chest full of little prizes after the final clue either)! I think it reinforced how much they could learn by reading books, and how they could put that knowledge to use.

I haven't seen many kids' books that teach map reading, so this is a great addition to a child's library, especially if you help them follow up with some practice. We females tend to have brains that don't automatically process maps, so this may be especially helpful for young girls--if they're anything like me, anyway!

I love this book for my 6 year old! He really enjoys reading it and it teaches him the basics of different map readings. I love the series of these books from Tish Rabe, since they are educational unlike other Dr. Seuss books.