Italy: reading list for younger kids: Venice, Lucca, Cinque Terra, Milan

I have heard that American schools don't like kids to be taken out ( even if it is probaly much more educational then classes) because they have some weird system of only funding the schools properly if attendence is good. This seems to have nothing to do with kids education suffering since they apply this to very young children as well as the middle school aged an up.

I believe taking older kids out is very hard on them to catch up, but kids in elementary school I think get way more out of time with parents and the education of travelling. Don't let school bully you for their own agenda.

Now, Bonnie, how old are your kids? I am taking daughter to Europe this summer so I plan on doing some homework myself to enrich this trip for her. I have already found serveral good books for France, but haven't started on Italy yet.

I have 2nd grade twins who love to read. They like art museums, castles, cathedrals, etc.

Rick recommends:
David MacAulay's books on: Cathedral, Castle, City
Frances & Jos. Gies' book: Cathedral, Forge & Waterwheel: Technology & Invention in the Middle Ages

I'll visit our local library for more ideas, too.

My kids like the Mary Pope Osborne books so I have the one on Venice's Carnivale and one on Leonardo DaVinci.

I have 2nd grade twins who love to read. They like art museums, castles, cathedrals, etc.

Rick recommends:
David MacAulay's books on: Cathedral, Castle, City
Frances & Jos. Gies' book: Cathedral, Forge & Waterwheel: Technology & Invention in the Middle Ages

I'll visit our local library for more ideas, too.

My kids like the Mary Pope Osborne books so I have the one on Venice's Carnivale and one on Leonardo DaVinci.

We are going to Florence with our 8 year old this summer, and I found these websites to be very helpful:
www.travelforkids.com
www.kidseurope.com

Don't have specifics for those cities....but had a really easy time last trip to the book store with my 6 yr old looking for books on Rome :-) and his all-time favorite book (even though it's now too easy) is one of those "step into reading" books called "Pompeii Buried Alive" anyway...wanted to chime in about the school...TOTALLY IGNORE them. seriously. I pulled my son out for over a month last year while we were in Rome and So. Italy...he not only learned all about ancient Rome...but he learned to READ once he was pulled out of school :-) he also kept a journal and took a TON of really wonderful photos (he brought a fisher price digital camera) have a blast!! (he also spent his 4th birthday in Vennice...lost a tooth last summer in Amalfi, etc.! no regrets ever about travelling with him!)now he has his own blog and often adds stories and photos abut his time in Italy.If my husband can get off work, we're going to pull him out again in March a few weeks.it's none of the school's biz.

I'm not sure how old your children are but I bought my nieces and nephew books by Miroshav Sasek titled "This is Rome," "This is Venice," "This is Paris." They are for children reading level age 9-12. You can look at them on Amazon to see if they are what you're looking for.

Hello Bonnie. Of the places in ITALY that you mentioned, I think the best places for children to be at are Lucca and the Cinque Terre. (At the Cinque Terre, walk on the trail from Corniglia to Vernazza, in that direction). I guess children would like the books on countries in Europe written by Karen Brown. Her books are in the classification "Travel guide books". She wrote good short descriptions of towns and villages that she likes. And each chapter has good pictures (black ink drawings) of towns and villages. I recommend reading the book to the children. And, they might appreciate having parts of the book "Rick Steves' EUROPE 101" read to them.
Just read the histories. Children in the 2nd Grade might not be old enough to appreciate the art and architecture. Children at that age are more likely to appreciate things of nature, than art and history and technology.

My 12 year old son and I read The Second Mrs. Gioconda by EL Konigsburg before our trip last summer. It is a fictionalized account of Leonardo DaVinci's time in the Milan area, including the origin of The Mona Lisa (ironically in the news today). The reading is probably a little difficult for your kids (I'm assuming younger), but it might be a good read aloud (content would be fine, in my opinion). As a bonus, at Certosa di Pavia, a monastery south of Milan (30-60 minute drive?) you can see the carved tomb of Duke of Milan and his wife Beatrice, characters that are a big part of the story. Unfortunately our visit to the monastery was too short (it closes in the afternoon), but it is really lovely and my son was very excited to see the tomb.

Many thanks for all your fabulous recommendations! I am so excited to learn about www.travelforkids.com and www.kidseurope.com for their excellent list of books for children (even by region) and books for creating a travelogue by the children as they go. Nifty stuff.

I have a great one, Zoe Sophia's Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice. Main character is 9 or so and goes to visit her aunt in Venice. Good story, good characters, good info on Venice, not too big (easy to pack).