Book Remarks to Make the Trip Come Alive

Claudia Kinkaid is bored and restless, longing for the kind of excitement that will change her life. Sound familiar? That’s what many of us hope a vacation will offer. The fact that Claudia is only 11 doesn’t stop her. She runs away from what she considers her staid suburb, taking her younger brother Jamie along. The two camp out for several days at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

If you’re thinking this sounds familiar, you’re right: Claudia and Jamie are straight off the pages of E.L. Konigsburg’s children’s classic “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler” (Bantam Doubleday Dell, $4.99).

But the Metropolitan Museum is real. So is New York City. And the 30-year-old story is a terrific introduction to the Metropolitan Museum and New York, as well as museums everywhere. After reading this book, I guarantee your children won’t look at a museum the same way again.

Such stories, librarians and educators agree, can make new places much more real for children visiting them for the first time, whether it’s a San Francisco tale about “The Cable Car and the Dragon” (by Herb Caen, Chronicle Books, $5.95); the new American Girl Josephina books about a Hispanic girl growing up in 1820s’ New Mexico (by Valerie Tripp, Pleasant Co., $5.95); or the beloved “Make Way for Ducklings” (by Robert McCloskey, Penguin, $7.99), about the fictional Mallard family that lived in Boston’s Public Garden and is commemorated by a real statue there.

“Books like these make the trip a more personal experience for children,” Jim Brown explained. Brown is principal of the 750-student Washington Oak Elementary School in Coventry, R.I.

“The children aren’t just seeing monuments or buildings. They understand that real people--parents and children--have their lives and adventures in this place. It really helps them relate,” agrees Leslie Edmonds Holt, president of the Children’s Division of the American Library Assn.

If you know you’ll see something specific--boats, tall buildings, the ocean--try to find a picture book about that subject for young children.

Children heading west might want to read the Caldecott Award winner “The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses” (by Paul Goble, Simon and Schuster, $5.99), while those planning a New England trip might want to pick up the award-winning “Johnny Tremaine” (by Esther Forbes, Dell Publishing, $5.50) or “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” (by Elizabeth George Speare, BDD Books, $5.50).

Your local children’s librarian or your child’s teacher should be able to recommend some books to you. They may also be able to suggest books on tape. There are hundreds of titles to choose from that are perfect for long car trips and a way for the entire family to share the story.

Just make sure, librarians say, that if you’re reading or listening to fiction, the kids understand that reality might not be like the story. That’s especially true with historical fiction, librarians note.

Taking the Kids appears the first and third week of every month.