The Collected Traveler Northern Spain
I really love this book and wish they had one for every area.They are just so juicy and delightful to savor. We had planned to go to Northern Spain on our first explorations of this journey in 2006, but life happens, so I have had a long time to really take in all the glories of this book. I fell deeply in love with Northern Spain just by reading this book, so glad we are finally going  the summer of 2008. If you like to get a deep sense of an area before going, these books are for you.

Homeschooling for Excellence
This is an older classic about one of the pioneering homeschool families who sent 3 boys to Harvard who graduated at the top of their classes and how they raised and taught them on a homestead ranch. I like their attitude of following the lead of the child and like their subtitle "How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education and Why You Must".

Traveler's Guide to European Camping
We find this the best book for camping in Europe.
We use many of this type, but this one is the most
clear and easiest to read. They have good campsites
and give a lot more information than most books.
They also have GPS coordinates for all camping sites.
Don't leave home without it!

You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Gladiator!
This is another book that Mozart has had for a long
time and reads over and over. She loves it and she
loves Roman Gladiators for some reason. I would
have guessed that this book would appeal more
to boys, but not in our case. This is a funny and
entertaining picture book, but filled with lots of
interesting facts because the author is an archaeologist.
We found it great to have with us any time we were
touring ancient Roman ruins and it takes up little space.

Meet Samantha
Mozart started reading these when she was four and
still really enjoys them!  It is a great way to introduce
historical fiction to a young reader (most read this in
the 9-12 year old range). We brought the mini dolls
with us and a pile of books, but Mozart would love to
have them all. This is a lovely series and yet another
way to educate in a fun way. Samantha is  her  favorite
American girl at the moment and she loves introducing
her European friends to these books and dolls.

And the Skylark sings with me Adventures in
Homeschooling and Community-based Education
I really like this book about a family that homeschools and how much they all learn through the adventure and community-based education. His children had great interest in Opera and music very young like Mozart, so that is what led me to this book. I even got to "know" them online as they were originally from our same town and he is very active in homeschooling circles. Lots of good information here and an attitude that I admire.

The Middle Moffat
A classic wholesome, touching and funny story by
Newberry Medal-winning author, Eleanor Estes.
Mozart rereads this and the other Moffat family
books, so I take that as a thumbs up.

Katie and the Mona Lisa
Mozart loves this whole series. We got them when she
was quite young,but she still loves them at seven and
rereads them all over and over. Charming stories,
exuberant illustrations and a fun approach to art
education for a young child. When she sees these
paintings in real life in museums as we travel,
she feels like they belong to her.

Storybook Travels
Great ideas for family travel by making itineraries
based on great children's Literature! Over 30
itineraries in North America and Europe for amazing
adventures for parents and children to share. We have
done many out of the book and have taken the idea
and made some of our own. Love it....wonderful
way to help a child identify with a place and learn
while having fun.

How Children Learn
Classic read by an extraordinary teacher
and one of the fathers of the homeschooling
movement.