There are loads of benefits of traveling with your kids… you give them a broader perspective of the world, introduce them to different cultures and practices, prepare them for bigger things to come, etc. But sometimes I wonder just how much my kids are soaking up from all our traveling. Will they remember it? Will they gain anything from it? Right now my son knows that he gets croissants when we go to France, that his best friend, Sara, lives in Amsterdam, and that you eat gelato and say ‘ciao’ in Italy. That’s pretty much the extent of it.

I’m sure it’s an overwhelming concept to grasp for a little kid, which is why it helps to do a bit of reading up on some of the places you visit. My favorite informative travel books for kids are from the “This is…” series by Miroslav Sasek.

Sasek believed that young people deserved to know about the things they would be seeing when they traveled. His descriptions of the different cities are marked by a subtle humor, and are filled with interesting facts about the city and its people/buildings/transport, etc. And the bold, stylized drawings are simply beautiful.

His book, This Is London, was his second ‘This is’ book (This Is Paris was his first), and is undoubtedly one of his best.

I would love to have the entire series, as they are all beautiful… and interesting! Even adults will learn from them as they are factual and informative. My son loves reading about the different cities (especially the buses, cars and buildings).

Whether they’re helping him to retain any of the info remains to be seen, but I figure it can’t hurt!

-Courtney