Customer Reviews

A child's geography of the world

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Hillyer's geography is a bit outdated for today, OK maybe a lot outdated for today. My children were amused when we read that "one day man might go to the moon." However, he is a very clever writer and much of the general information is still worthwhile today. Some things haven't changed in all these years, like the Rhine river and the Swiss Alps. Hillyer is able to make the world more understandable to the grade school child. We simply read a chapter and talk about it. We look at a large world map when he tells of various places. Reading, then seeing the places on a map and then discussing them helps bring the world into focus for children.

Yes, some geography details have changed since the book was written, but a lot of them haven't. And children should know that the world is constantly changing. This is not the last edition of ever so changing "National Geographic Map of the World", but this book is a very good starting point to learn geography. I read this book to my 9 years old son, and we both enjoy it. He checks the map, reads over my shoulder, retells the things he learned from this book to other people; and the word "geography" is not some dull and dusty word for him, it sounds like "an adventure". I have to tell him about some changes, but this makes it even more interesting to him. I got "Children's History of the World" and "Children's History of the Art" by the same author. He was a teacher, and he knew how to teach and how to write for children. Age group for this book: 9-11.