<i>Children Map the World</i> Explores the Creativity of Young Cartographers

Vibrant creations from drawings and paintings to watercolour and knitting create a montage of subtle insight about the earth in the new ESRI Press book Children Map the World. The book presents a retrospective selection of 100 maps submitted in the first decade of the Barbara Petchenik Children’s World Map Competition. The collection represents children from all over the world, ages 6 to 16, as they become novice cartographers with expressive ideas.

The International Cartographic Association (ICA) created the Barbara Petchenik Children’s World Map Competition in 1993 as a memorial for Petchenik, a cartographer who worked throughout her life with maps related to children. The competition aims to promote children’s creative representation of the world, enhance their cartographic awareness, and make them more conscious of their environment. The competition, held every two years during an ICA conference, has involved thousands of children from 52 countries. The eye-catching collection in Children Map the World illustrates the aim of the competition and lends insight into the diverse, complex minds of young cartographers.

Using a variety of media, including paint, crayons, needle and thread, and scraps of paper, the children imaginatively present what they see in the world around them. The collection takes readers to a unique world of distinct cultures and ideas, merged under a common theme of map-making.

The book is a potential resource for classrooms, map enthusiasts, and those who want to develop young people’s mapping skills. The International Cartographic Association will use proceeds from the sale of Children Map the World to promote geographic literacy in developing countries and for disadvantaged learners.