Wednesday 23 December 2015

Maps by Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski

Probably my current favourite graphic/picture book at the moment

Cost: $40
A little pricey but in my humble view, well worth it.
I don't really have to say much - the pictures say everything.

There are about 110 pages worth of 'comic-like' maps (for lack of a better description). The book is divided into continents.

Each country or continent featured in the book is always split across two pages.

Not all countries are featured in the book, but a good selection of countries is illustrated (notably, many from Europe - and we do get countries like Jordan, Namibia, Ecuador, China or Tanzania)


What is amazing about this book is that not only are the main cities displayed, but the special features (cultural, geopolitical, food, plants, animals) of each country are also entailed on each map! 

So for example, under Australia we have terms, accompanied with pictures, like "Cricket", "Barbecue", "Pavlova", "Barramundi", "AFL", "Federation Square", "Sea Anemones" or "Mount Kosciuszko"

In the United States of America map, cultural icon Elvis is standing near Memphis, Tennessee; while Martin Luther King Junior is standing near Atlanta, Georgia.


The last two pages also show all the current maps of the world (197 by my count). South Sudan as well as Kosovo is also featured here (and in their respective continent sections too) so you can tell this is quite up to date.

This is a fantastic present, for both young and old. If you love maps, this is a must buy.

It's a minor shame that not all countries were covered -  I would really love that to happen. Indeed, I can already see that many on Amazon have complained that their countries are not there.

In terms of geopolitical boundary accuracy, I wouldn't know how accurate the maps are (they look accurate enough to me!). But I can say that the maps are beautifully illustrated and have much educational material within them.

Regardless, I would give Maps a minimum rating of 8.0+/10 for me.

This may be my last post of 2015 as I will be going overseas.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.

Andre Lim

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