Jamie Martin knows a thing or two about raising a global family — with members from four different nationalities (and continents!), she likens hers to a mini United Nations. She’s also a book loving, homeschool mom and blogger, so who better to write a book about giving children a global perspective through reading your way around the world?

Please note, I was provided with a copy of this book from the publisher free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to provide a positive review, all opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Give Your Child the World: Raising Globally Minded Kids One Book at a Time,  is the new book out by author Jamie C. Martin of Simple Homeschool.  I’ve followed her blog for years (including her old one, Steady Mom) and have also enjoyed her two “appearances” on Sarah MacKenzie’s Read Aloud Revival Podcast.  This book was on my “to read” list from the moment I heard of it!

Give Your Child the World is both practical and inspirational. It’s a book about falling in love with the people of the world by reading your way around the world. It also contains the Martin’s own story of world travel, ministry, and adoption. It’s truly beautiful.

On the practical side, it contains ideas you can use to help your own family have a global perspective in your own style as well as tips for creating a reading or story culture in your home. Throughout the book short “Global Perspective” features from parents show how various families are promoting a global perspective in their own homes.

The bulk of the book is an extensive booklist containing both picture books and novels organized by continent and country. My favourite feature of the book is the index – all the books listed are indexed by geographical area, time period, age range (“early readers” are noted as well), and country making it an ideal tool for using alongside your favourite history or geography curriculum. It’s a great resource to use for finding living books to go along with our Story of the World studies!

My only criticism of this book is a minor one — although Jamie has personally read most of the books on this list, she admits that there are a few that she has not. I would much prefer to have the reassurance that each book had been vetted by her personally for content and appropriate content.

I think this book is an invaluable tool to parents everywhere, homeschoolers (and teachers) in particular. I heartily recommend you get your hands on it, and with the help of your library card, explore the world from the comfort of your couch as soon as possible!

And as for me, I’m adding Give Your Child the World to the shelf alongside my other trusty booklists.

Do you have a favourite book set in a country or culture different from your own? 

This post is linked up at Trivium Tuesdays