How I Learned Geography (2008)

Wow, what a neat picture book! I'm familiar with Uri Shulevitz through his book, The Treasure, so I expected to like this one when I opened the cover, but still, what a pleasant surprise! I connected with the boy in the story because I've long been fascinated with maps as well, and I appreciated how the map his father brought home became an escape mechanism for the boy through troubling times. ( )

Prolific picture-book artist Uri Shulevitz, who won the Caldecott Medal in 1969 for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship: A Russian Tale, and then two Caldecott Honors in 1979 (The Treasure) and 1999 (Snow), made the Caldecott lists a fourth time in 2009 with this autobiographical picture-book about his childhood experiences in war-torn Europe. Still very young when bombs begin falling on his home in Warsaw, Uri and his family flee east, eventually settling in Kazakhstan, where they endure great hardship and poverty. One evening his father returns from the market, not with the expected bit of bread for the family dinner, but with a colorful wall map. Resentful at first, Uri eventually comes to treasure the map, which allows him to escape from the harsh reality of his current existence, and to dream of other places and experiences...

Given the subject matter, and the fact that I have enjoyed Shulevitz's work before, I really expected to take How I Learned Geography more to heart, than I ended up doing. Which isn't to say that I didn't appreciate it, because I did. All stories of children caught up in the madness of war are poignant, and this was no exception. I liked the way in which something that might not seem like a priority at first - a wall map, of all things - turns out to be the saving grace during a time of crisis. I also liked the illustrations, although I didn't find them the equal of some of Shulevitz's other work (Snow, for instance), and can't really see that they deserved a Caldecott nod. Still, I don't want to overstate the matter: although I wasn't as impressed with this one as many of my fellow readers, I still found it a solidly engaging book, and am glad that it was chosen as one of our August selections, over in the Picture-Book Club to which I belong, where our theme this month is "maps and geography." ( )

A moving and emotionally affecting story (based on the author's own boyhood, his family's escape from Nazi-occupied Poland to Central Asia), How I Learned Geography (both written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz) not only poignantly demonstrates the ravages of war, of being a refugee with scant resources for food and other basic necessities many of us take for granted, the book also shows how one special object (in this case, a map of the world that the young boy's father buys instead of purchasing bread) can make a terrible, inhumane reality more tolerable.

At first glance, the map might be regarded as a frivolously foolish purchase, but as the young boy's father explains, he had just enough money to buy a very tiny piece of bread, which would have partially nourished the family, but only for a day, or a night at the most. On the other hand, the map the father purchases, soon floods the family's small, desolate room with colour and vision, encouraging imagination, learning, a sense of escapism, making the harsh reality of the present more livable. While the bread would only have provided temporary nourishment of the body, the map lastingly nourishes the soul, providing both solace and a sense of lasting and healing wonder.

Like my LT friend Lisa, I would also not suggest reading this book when hungry, although my reaction (when I read the book on a very empty stomach) was a bit different from hers. I never wished that the father had bought bread instead of the map, but I did feel quite livid at the couple who shared the family's hut (at not sharing their food, but more specifically, at the way the husband eats with such enthusiasm, seemingly rubbing it in that the young boy and his family have to go without supper).

The illustrations are bright and evocative, and while on their own, they would likely not be altogether to my taste, they work wonderfully well with the text, the narrative, both mirroring and expanding the latter. My personal favourite probably is the picture where the boy seems to soar above the world map, being transported to explore deserts, beaches, mountains, encountering the richness and diversity of the world, of the earth, armed only with a large world map and the power of his imagination.

Although the narrative of How I Learned Geography is simply told and easy to understand, I would not necessarily recommend this excellent picture book to very young children, as some of the themes presented (war, hunger, being a refugee) are rather heavy and potentially traumatic. I think that a good age group would be children from about ages five to eight, although even older children would likely enjoy and appreciate How I Learned Geography, especially if reading the book were accompanied by discussions on and about some of the issues and themes mentioned above. ( )

When I first set out to rate How I Learned Geography I was torn - several respected peers were blown away by this book while my original response was "meh" - it was just so "good for you" - but as I looked more deeply at the book and its illustrations, my appreciation of them just kept growing.

Shulevitz's illustrations, done in collage, pen and ink, and watercolor, simply glow and they're filled with so much texture that you expect to feel it on the page. He keeps his compositions changing from spread to spread with the text even seeming to be part of the illustration in a few cases. His illustrations of Turkestan are dominated by sandy browns, although the marketplace shows color and liveliness. It's when the boy Uri begins his mental travels that the illustrations really become filled with vibrant colors and the illustrations dominate the pages.

Shulevitz is telling a brief story from his childhood here. He and his family have been displaced from Poland by war and live in poverty in what is now Turkestan. His father goes to market for food one day and instead returns with a map, much to the disgust of Shulevitz's mother and initially of Uri himself. It is only after some time that Uri comes to appreciate how the map lets him escape his current discomfort through the magic of imagination.

Children may become intrigued with their own maps after reading this title and this would make a great writing prompt for children to imagine their own visits to parts unknown. Shulevitz includes an author's note at the back of the book which explains, a little, how he came to write this story and greatly enriches the reading experience. ( )

This biography of a 4 or 5 year old boy tells the story of how he and his family experience hardship after having to leave their homeland in Poland that was devastated in World War II. The family has no belongings and live in a small room that they shared with strangers. Dad leaves with enough money to buy bread and comes home proudly with only a map leaving his family hungry. The colorful map brightens up the little boy's days as he spends many hours studying it, drawing it, and imagining himself in different geographical areas throughout the world . The simple illustrations in neutral colors extend the simple text without overshadowing the themes of this book. It might be hard for a young child to fathom this story, but it is a valuable book to bring awareness to war, hunger, and hardship and perspectives of how it is possible to overcome feelings associated with it. I do think this would make a valuable book for social studies as well as geography.