Review: Geography Through Literature

How does one teach geography using literature? Perhaps this question has popped in your head while browsing through the programs we offer or seeing friends post about it on Instagram. It's a completely valid question. After all, most geography is taught by studying and memorizing maps, capitals, elevations, etc. We believe that there is a lot more to geography than stats and facts, we believe that geography has a way of shaping us and what better way to understand this than by reading great stories?

The geography around us determines so much of our behavior as human beings. We don't often think of it, but the history of humanity cannot be separated from geography and ecology. Civilizations cropped up around water sources. Mountains divided cultures back when traveling over them presented insurmountable challenges. Droughts, floods, natural disasters shaped geographical landscapes and therefore human behavior. We cannot be separated from our surroundings and our geography program helps us understand how geography shaped mankind and mankind has been trying to return the favor since the beginning of time. Our Geography: A Literature Approach for Intermediate Grades opens student's minds to the amazing study of this science in a whole new way. One of our most popular programs, this combines great books with detailed mapping assignments so students understand the history, ecology, biology, and humanity of the places they're studying. 

Here are excerpts from a couple of reviews we just received of our Geography: A Literature Approach study. 

 "I cannot wait to gush about the literature-rich geography curriculum we’ve been using!" writes Caitlin from My Little Poppies. 

I believe that you could homeschool the elementary years with your library card alone...And yet, this is easier said than done...I’ll be honest: I love when someone does all that work for me. I love an incredible book list or a literature-rich curriculum.

And that’s where Beautiful Feet Books comes into play...I knew this curriculum would be a win for our family before it even arrived on our doorstep. Our family adores Holling Clancy Holling, winner of the Newbery Honor, the Caldecott Honor, and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Holling’s amazing stories which are filled with fantastic illustrations and geographical and scientific facts." To read more of this review and see pictures of the maps and books that are included in this study, click here. 

Ami from Walking by the Way wrote about using this study with her active, nature-loving son: 
"I have this kid who wants to live outside. When he's not outside, he's inside–learning about wild edible plants or how to build a survival shelter or maybe finishing his math so he can go back outside. 

I asked him if he wanted to try some history, and he looked through a few things. He settled on a geography program from Beautiful Feet. I admit I was a bit nervous. Was my bird-calling, plant-loving, waterfall-chasing boy going to enjoy this geography program? We started on the first book, Paddle-to-the-Sea, and he was hooked: a boy building a miniature boat, the Great Lakes, a pond, a marsh, birds. Yes, he was hooked. And he learned a ton. And I learned I love this program for many reasons."

As alluded to above, this study uses Holling C. Holling's wonderful books and focuses on North American geography with an introduction to world geography. We've published custom maps to go with each of the books and students work on coloring, illustration, and marking those maps throughout the course of the study. 

Photos: My Little Poppies

Photo: Walking by the Way

The Study Guide provides lesson plans with reading assignments, research projects, activities, mapping projects, and much more. 

We offer everything is an affordable discounted package (that ships for free!) and you can buy additional maps for each of your students! 


We hope this helps you get a good idea of what this pack is all about. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. If you have a question, chances are others do to, so please ask away! And thank you to our reviewers, Ami and Caitlin!

We hope you find this helpful. Please never hesitate to contact us with any questions. We can be reached at 800.889.1978, letters@bfbooks.com, on Facebook, and Instagram.