What it is about maps in children’s books that we love so much?

For me it’s the very immediate suggestion that this author has created an entire, detailed world for the reader. They’ve thought of everything, from the twists and turns of a river, to the shape of mountains. How far we are from seas or rival lands, how we might get to Rabbit’s house, or the way to walk from the nice white cottage with the thatched roof to Mr Blunt’s Corner Shop where Billy Blunt lives. The picture the author meticulously constructed in their head has been translated into a visual feast that I can step right into. And the story begins before a single word has been read.

Here are just a few more of the many maps we love in children’s and young adult fiction. The first is from the newly release Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar.

Map of the woods from world of Fuzzy Mud

Like many fans of Louis Sachar’s previous children’s books such as Holes and There’s A Boy In The Girls’ Bathroom, I was eager to get my hands on his latest novel, Fuzzy Mud (you can read my review here) and I was even more delighted when I opened it up to discover a map.

The map in Fuzzy Mud shows a school surrounded on three sides by very dense woodland. Naturally the woods are the subject of spooky stories and children are strictly forbidden from taking shortcuts through to the road on the other side. However, one boy finds himself in an impossible situation with the school bully, and for once the woods seem like the safer option. Only it’s not just his own safety he’s compromising but also that of a sweet, shy fifth-grader – who turns out to be a true friend and a surprisingly resilient character.

Map of the 100 Aker Wood from the world of Winnie-the-Pooh

Ashdown Forest in the UK is the real setting that inspired the ‘100 Aker Wood’ in Winnie-the-Pooh. A.A. Milne lived near it with his son, Christopher Robin. While the real woodland is five hundred acres, and not generally accessible to the public, the imaginary one is sweeter, smaller and far more inviting, including such whimsical spots as ‘Where the Woozle Wasn’t’ and, my personal favourite hang-out, ‘Eeyore’s Gloomy Place’.

Map of Berk from Cressida Cowell’s How To Train a Dragon series

This is Berk. It’s twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It’s located solidly on the Meridian of Misery.

Sound the blowing horns: there is a new adventure for Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third coming very soon! Sadly for the series’ many fans (including my dragon-obsessed 8-year-old) it will be the last. How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury is the twelfth book in Cressida Cowell’s series that began with How to Train Your Dragon and will be available in just one month.

Map of the village from the Milly-Molly-Mandy books

The world created by Joyce Lankester Brisley in the 1920s is now too twee for some readers, and when I used to read Milly-Molly-Mandy aloud to my children I sounded more English than the queen. Still, I can’t help feeling very comforted by the village of this series. I love how free the children are to roam, visiting friends or going on errands (Trowel for farver, eggs for Muvver…). How simple life is when your world is so contained, and has meadows in it, and no Coles. Though of course I’m picturing myself as one of the children when I read these stories rather than the poor mother washing clothes by hand, darning socks and peeling potatoes for seven people every evening.

Map of 1930s Surry Hills from the world of Razorhurst

I was so struck by Justine Larbalestier’s historical-supernatural YA novel, Razorhurst, last year that it set me on a reading journey of novels set in the same place and similar time, including Ruth Park’s brilliant The Harp in the South novels and Foveaux by Kylie Tennant. Then, just a few weeks ago, I went to stay with some friends who live on a street in this very map. I think that’s about as spiritual a feeling as a bookworm can get! I walked the streets thinking about the two gutsy girls of Razorhurst, Kelpie and Dymphna, who have to live so smart and brave in 1930s Surry Hills, which is populated not only by razor-wielding mobs but by a meticulously drawn ghost-world. There were definitely book-ghosts walking with me that day.

Map of the Old Kingdom from Garth Nix’s fantasy series

Finally, here’s the superb Old Kingdom from the Garth Nix series that began with Sabriel (and then Lirael, Abhorsen, and more recently Clariel which is set 600 years before the birth of Sabriel). This fantasy fiction made me wonder: “Why don’t I read more fantasy fiction?” With so many inventive names for places and people, a map in a book like this can be essential for settling into the story, and I referred to it often when Sabriel was beginning her journey. If your 12s and over enjoy fantasy, this is a great series to get them into.

Emily Gale