Book of the Month: Barefoot World Atlas

Our book of the month on the First Book Marketplace is the Barefoot World Atlas, which looks at all the ways that different cultures and communities across the world have been shaped by their environment.

“Two years ago, our girls participated in thematic unit on water where they learned about the scarcity of clean water around the world. Our case study was the girls of Sierra Leone who are often unable to attend school because of their responsibility to bare water for their family — not to mention the very dangerous paths they walk to get it.”

“Our girls were so blown away they actually raised enough money to build two wells in Sierra Leone. The wells are close to school so girls may get water on their way home and walk together, hopefully decreasing the incidents of violence against them.”

“This beautiful book illustrates many of the issues we discuss at our center. It empowers our girls of every age and from every demographic to empathize with others regardless of geography or background.”

— Marisa Monroe, the director of program operations at Girls Inc., a program that works with girls in Sarasota, Fla., and a member of the First Book network

The First Book Marketplace is a website available exclusively to schools and programs serving kids in need. If you’re a teacher or program leader, sign up with First Book to get quality books like the Barefoot World Atlas for your kids at prices your program can afford.

First Book is able to offer this exclusive, low-cost paperback edition of Nick Crane’s Barefoot World Atlas thanks to the support of our friends at the Longview Foundation for Education in World Affairs and International Understanding.

Our friends at the Longview Foundation also helped us develop this list of other great books on different cultures and communities around the globe. Lists like this are never complete, of course, but these titles are some of our favorites. If you work with kids and know of any titles like this that we might have missed, drop us a line and let us know!