How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost)
Hans Aschim
Workman Publishing Company
Published March 30, 2021
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About How to Go Anywhere (And Not Get Lost)
From journalist and adventurer extraordinaire Hans Aschim, here’s a lively and interactive book that gets kids unplugged and out of the house—and teaches them cool navigation techniques to use while hiking, camping, or just exploring the backyard or nearby park.
With lively full-color illustrations and full-color photos throughout, HOW TO GO ANYWHERE (AND NOT GET LOST) combines fascinating history with fun hands-on activities that bring critical science, geography, and astronomy concepts to life. Readers will discover explorers and the tools they developed through the ages: from the ancient Polynesians who crafted stick charts to learn swell patterns in the water to navigate precise paths through the ocean; to Age of Discovery navigators who used compasses and maps to reach the New World; to the modern-day pilots who wield radar and GPS to soar across continents. Kids will also learn skills like taking their bearings with a compass; finding their way with dead reckoning; and locating their own latitude and longitude.
And best of all: 17 activities—making their own sextant, compass, stick chart, chip log, and more—will turn all young adventurers into young navigators.
My Review
This book is part history, part DIY, and part love for the outdoors. Even though I’m not really a camping/hiking kind of person, I found I loved this book. I liked the approach the author took, walking readers through the history of navigation and navigational equipment. At each stage, the author describes how people used clues from nature and the stars, combined with basic math to figure out where they were and also where they were going.
The activities are integrated pretty seamlessly into the book, too. They’re directly related to concepts the author has explained, so they read like a, “now you know, go try it,” type of thing. I loved that, and I also really want to try out some of the activities myself and with my kids.
On the whole, this book was very easy to read. The sections of text are short and often broken up with sidebars or other short bits of information. The author scaled the information really well for young readers. I think anyone, nature enthusiast or not, could benefit from this book.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 10 up.
Representation
Briefly covers history of famous explorers or groups with a focus on navigational methods.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
None.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
None.
Drug Content
None.
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