Crameye, the main character, is a young boy who's father is a secret agent. Because of the father's occupation, the family does a lot of traveling and relocating to different countries. In each country Crameye explores and mixes with the local culture.
The First Adventure Series from The Adventurous Mailbox contains eight books covering the countries of Finland, Taiwan, Brazil, Thailand, Greece, Tanzania and Peru. (There are two books on Peru.) Just beyond the reading level of the Magic Tree House series, these books teach kids about foreign countries by engrossing them in stories. In Finland, the first book, Crameye's family travels to Finland and meets up with another family they know well. The two oldest children are given a mission which involves traveling across Finland and serves to protect the nation's culture.
My kids burst out laughing when I read the following section from the book. Crameye, a very friendly and talkative kid was trying to make small talk with an adult Finnish native on the bus. After he asked "Miten menee?" (How are you doing?) He realized he had made a cultural error.
What I said means How are you doing, but is too informal to say to a person older than you. It would be like walking up to some businessperson or a doctor and asking, "Hey dude, what's going on with your bad self?"After ordering the books, they are shipped to your house in a cute package, from overseas, and directly from Crameye (the main character) himself.
This unique way of shipping gets kids interested right away. Our package came with one letter addressed to each of the children. They wondered who Crameye was, and why he was sending them books. Full of curiosity, we dove right into the stories.
Also included in the letter from Crameye was a link and password to his webiste. We really enjoyed reading some of the posts on topics such as food and how people eat in different countries.
The target audience for the books is around 5th grade. Both the Magic Tree House and Magic School Bus series cover science and history, American Girl books and Little House chapter books cover history....... all of which are fantastic. This series fits right in, but covers culture and geography. It's a perfect addition to a bookshelf designed to inspire and teach kids through story.
Due to the way the books are packaged and sent, they make a unique gift. What are your kids getting for Christmas?
Check out these blog hops for other great kid ideas - Simplify Life
My boys would love this. Thanks for letting me know about them.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I've never heard of these before but they sound wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh my, these seem right up my son's alley! I may have to consider these for his Christmas books!
ReplyDeleteThese looks very interesting I have been to the website and have a questions did the work books come with this set as well? I can't tell by the site
ReplyDeleteHey there, this is Andrew from TAM. Our workbooks are just about finished and are going through some editing and testing. When they are finished, we will host them all for download (both pdf and Word) in our Teacher's Lounge section. You will need to pay a bit more (added on as an Upgrade at purchase) for access to cover our costs, but we are going to make it very affordable. We will also host a forum where teachers can share ideas. It should be up and running in January. Check back soon, though, because we are about to start a promotion where access to the Teacher's Lounge is free for purchases made now, with access code given once it is ready.
DeleteIf you are interested in printed versions of the workbooks, we will have those ready by March, and will be more expensive.
What a great idea! These sound interesting and a great way to learn about how people live in different cultures. Thanks for sharing at Together on Tuesdays :)
ReplyDeleteI just love these books! I think they would make awesome Christmas gifts for the children xo
ReplyDeleteThese books look so neat - I've pinned this post for when my daughter gets a bit older. Have a great week!
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