How I Learned Geography

Author/illustrator: Uri Shulevitz

How I learned Geography

Having fled from war in their troubled homeland, a boy and his family are living in poverty in a strange country. Food is scarce, so when the boy’s father brings home a map instead of bread for supper, at first the boy is furious. But when the map is hung on the wall, it floods their cheerless room with color. As the boy studies its every detail, he is transported to exotic places without ever leaving the room, and he eventually comes to realize that the map feeds him in a way that bread never could.

Country of Origin: Poland

Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Year of publication: 2008

A biography on Uri Shulevitz

Review of "How I learned Geography" in The New York Times

Book Awards:

  • American Library Association Notable Children's Books

  • Caldecott Honor Book

  • An Indie Next Kids' List Great Read

  • Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year

  • CCBC Choice (Univ. of WI)

  • NYPL Book for Reading and Sharing

  • Parents' Choice Honor Books

  • Charlotte Zolotow Award / Honor Book

  • NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies

  • Booklinks Lasting Connection

  • Booklist Editors' Choice

  • Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books of the Year

  • School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

  • Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens

  • Michigan Great Lakes Great Books Award Master List

Other books by this author:

    • The Moon in my Room (1963)

    • One Monday Morning (1967)

    • The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship (1969)

    • Rain Rain Rivers (1969)

    • Soldier and Tsar in the Forest (1972)

    • The Fools of Chelm and Their History (1973)

    • Dawn (1974)

    • The Treasure (1978)

    • The Golden Goose (1995)

    • Snow (1998)

    • The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela (2005)

    • So Sleepy Story (2006)