Footsteps on the Map, young child-illustrated book utopia from Nat Geo Kids

When is a National Geographic  Kids book not a National Geographic Kids Book? Footsteps on the Map has the National Geographic Kids logo in the upper left-hand corner like others in their lineup, but something is different here. It’s obvious when you look inside, it’s a simpler book, with far fewer words than usual and mixed media illustrations that combine all manner of mediums.

Savvy readers, or adults who’ve wrangled through other Nat Geo Books will realize that something is different from the book’s cover. Footsteps on the Map is shaped like an illustrated book. It’s slightly rectangular and skinnier. That’s because this is an illustrated book that’s aimed at the very young. This is a naturalistic book aimed at pre-k kids through second grade. It’s story time, read-to-me magic that helps calm kids down, encourages them to use their imagination, and, if time allows, a chance to share what they do.

One of the things I love most about Footsteps on the Map is the wonderful illustrations by Oksana Drachkovska. The art is full of play and wonder, and we have the extra pleasure of seeing each kid’s map drawn in real-time in a banner that runs along the bottom of the page.

But if you look closely, you’ll see that the art has something unexpected—photographs seamlessly mixed in with the illustrations. An illustrated bird perches on a photograph of a berry bush. A stream is dotted with stones both real and imagined. In some spreads, a close-up photo of a single leaf acts like the canopy of an entire tree, with the leaf’s veins serving as the tree’s branches.

 Every page has a two-word phrase that describes an outdoorsy scene. That phrase is then placed on top of the illustration mentioned above.  The book is about two kids who, accompanied by a pet, each go on an adventure, mapping the journey as they go. The girl’s journey is different from the boy’s and they both track out in real time to their different destinations. When the boy is shown playing in the grass, he draws a grassy patch below. The girl stops under a series of trees and proceeds to draw the trees on her version of the map. This tandem effect encourages kids to draw their own map with their own distinct symbols. The end of Footsteps on the Map asks kids where they want to go and asks them to draw a map and to show a path on existing pictures.

This is a map skill that they’ll be asked to demonstrate in third or fourth grade. I distinctly remember this because our youngest son had a really difficult time navigating his city center when he was in fourth grade. Consider Foosteps on the Map, a kid’s first illustrated book, with just a hint of poetry that will inspire them to be curious about the great outdoors. Its soft, lyrical pace, with surreal illustrations, will put them in a dreamy state that’s just the sort of book discovery for read-along or leisure time imagination.

Footsteps on the Map is by Barbara Kerley with illustrations by Oksana Drachkovska and is available on National Geographic Kids.

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