Tag Archives: reading

Books + Travel = The Best!

A while ago I started a post about to amazing books I find as I travel. You can read about those earlier titles here: https://www.margrietruurs.com/books-as-windows-to-the-world/

I keep finding fabulous books as I travel, books that help me to learn more about the world in both fiction and nonfiction. Here are some more of my all time favourites that I am grateful to have come across:

A beautiful book about Mongolia: Hearing Birds Fly by Louise Waugh. This nonfiction story is an account of living with nomads and describes much of their lives in detail. Walking the Gobi by Helen Thayer describes the incredible feat of an American couple that walks across the country. Their endurance is amazing and the book shares lots of details about Mongolia and its people. I recognized places I visited.

In Saudi Arabia I gained a better understanding of the difficulties faces by women, by reading In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor’s Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by

Qanta Ahmed. As a female within the country, she describes the culture and its strong traditions in such intricate detail

that it feels as if you’re right there with her.

One of my favorite books ever I found just before visiting Jordan: Married to A Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen is the facinating story of how this young woman traveled from her home in New Zealand to Jordon, where she fell in love and married a bedouin man. She ended up living most of the rest of her life in a cave in ancient Petra where she raised her children and became part of the community. When we visited Petra, we met  her as she was signing books, and had a delightful discussion with the author.

While in Turkey I was given a copy of a graphic novel about growing up in this country in the ’60 and ’70’s. Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey by Ozge Samanci is a fascinating insight look at growing up in a turbulent country.

I gained a deeper understanding of children’s life in a slum in Kenya, and of the importance of family, by reading Walking Home by Eric Walters. Having seen the immense slum, the city of Nairobi and the vastness of Kenya, it was all the more impressive to read about the author walk with orphans across the country.

Finding Lien by Bruce Logan is a fictional story placed in Cambodia but it is a very realistic tale of the child sex trade. The bravely told tale is a scary part of the country’s culture but also one that creates awareness as you travel there.

I haven’t yet been to Zimbabwe, Botswana or India but feel that I’ve been there after reading Barefoot Over The Serengeti by David Read which gives a great impression of what it was like for the author to grow up in this wild and beautiful country. Twenty Chickens For A Saddle, by Robyn Scott is a wonderful, and funny, account of a childhood spend in Botswana as are of course the Number One Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith.

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and Secret Daughter by Shilphi Somaya Gowda are stories about India that stay with you and become part  of you as a reader.

And finally a book that makes me want to visit Bhutan: Married to Bhutan: How One Woman Got Lost, Said I Do and Found Bliss by Linda Leaming who did all this things in addition to writing her spellbinding book.

Happy travel, happy reading!

Books With International Appeal

While conducting author visits to international schools around the world, I often come across amazing books, titles that children in many countries will enjoy. Here are some of my favorites to share with students in different cultures:

GIFTS, a picture book written by Jo Ellen Bogart and illustrated in plasticine by Barbara Reid. Published by Scholastic, ISBN-13 978-0-590-24935-5

A grandmother travels around the world, sending back gifts to her granddaughter. From Africa she sends ‘a bilboa seed and the roar of the jungle king’. While in India, the lyrical, poetic text says “What would you have me bring?” “Just something nice, like curry and rice, and a sitar’s twang and twing.” The elaborate plasticine illustration is rich with elephants, mosques and fruits.

The book takes young readers from Mexico to the Arctic, from Australia to Switzerland and places in between. A perfect ‘gift’ for those who like to travel!

For students in grades 4 and up, I highly recommend FOLLOW THE ELEPHANT, a novel by Beryl Young, published by Ronsdale Press. ISBN 978-1-55380-098-9.

The mother of thirteen-year-old Ben is concerned. Since losing his father, Ben is spending way too much time playing video games and refuses to talk about his feelings. Then Ben’s grandmother decides to take him along to India, on her quest to locate a long-lost penpal. Together they travel from Delhi to Agra, from Varanasi to Mahabalipuram and places in between, using different modes to transport. While starting off reluctantly, Ben soon learns about different cultures and religions. He finds out about elephant gods and explores caves, making friends along the route, not only discovering about the world around him but much about himself. Students who have lived in different places will identify with Ben.

I was introduced to one of my all time favorite books by a librarian in Singapore:THE LONDON JUNGLE BOOK, written and illustrated by Bhajju Shyam, published by Tara Books. ISBN 13: 9788186211878

This is a large, illustrated book and will appeal to children as much as it will to adults. A tribal artist from the Gond Community in India, Bhajju Shyam had never left the village of his birth. He was, however, invited to come to London to paint murals in an Indian restaurant. The book is his diary, in words and images of his impressions, ideas, and emotions while living in a world city, among a different culture. Using Gond idioms as they have never been used before, he turned London into a strange bestiary, bringing the signs of the forest to bear on the city. This appealing blend of nonfiction, legend, and personal narrative makes for an unforgettable read.