Travel books/books on foreign countries for 4 year old?

[Liziz]

We're moving to Europe in a few months. My 4 year old DD is very excited and is asking lots of questions about where we're moving, where we'll be traveling, etc. Are there any good travel books or non fiction books about countries out there for a young child?

[ged]

Can you specify where in Europe you'll be moving to? That'll help with some initial suggestions. My girls were 5 and 7 months when we moved to Munich. We were there almost 4 years, and they loved it. we did a good amount of traveling, but not as much as I would have liked. There is a fun series about Katie in London (amongst other places), and we also like the Benjamin in Budapest book . The "This is..." series is nice for major cities. Lots of books centered on Paris, if that's where you're going. Belinda in Paris is a favorite of ours.

[schrocat]

What about a book like this. http://smile.amazon.com/School-Like-Mine-Celebration-Schools/dp/0756629136/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=517afRSPeAL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR131%2C160_&refRID=0SEV1GJVRJZTVY843NDN

[Globetrotter]

I used to buy those types of books for my kids. If you can say which country or region, it'll be easier to give suggestions :-)

[Liziz]

Thanks for the suggestions so far! We're moving to Germany (although I'm open to suggestions for other countries as we are hoping to travel). (And ged, feel free to throw any other Germany related tips my way as you lived there with kids similar ages to mine!)

[american_mama]

My family also lived in Germany in 2013 when my kids were 5, 8, and 11. We were near Cologne. We also lived in Belgium when my oldest was 1 and 2 years old, and my middle child was a newborn. So, I have slightly missed your age range, but still have some suggestions:

For myself as a parent, I bought "Travel with Kids" by Lonely Planet. It's very basic and starts to get repetitive, but its a good starting point. It has one or two pages about most countries around the world, and it has advice about where to get diapers, formula, cultural standards for breastfeeding, public expectations for child behavior, and fun things to do with kids in each country:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lonely-planet-travel-with-children-lonely-planet/1120955707?ean=9781743607893&st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Core+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP648&k_clickid=3x648

For Paris, we recently read the picture book A Walk in Paris by Salvatore Rubbino; there is also A Walk in London and some US cities. From searching that title, there are many children's books about Paris. The animated movies "Ratatouille" and "A Cat in Paris" on Netflix is also wonderful... the final scenes of the chase after the thieves may be a little scary for a 4 year old. My DS and DD2 are fascinated by Paris, aso much that I am starting to wonder if Paris, the Eifel Tower and its mystique appeals to kids more than any other foreign city, so I would put that on your To Visit list.

For Amsterdam or the Netherlands, the movie Miss Minoes (Undercover Kitty) is a Dutch family movie, very cute, about a cat who mysteriously turns into a woman and helps solve a string of crimes in the city with her human friend. It was dubbed, as I recall, so no need to read subtitles. Our whole family watched it in Germany on our computer and liked it.

For Germany, I cannot really think of books or movies we watched. However, I will give you some travel advice and then general advice:

TRAVEL ADVICE
Go to Playmobil Land near Nuremburg. It is wonderfully imaginative, inexpensive, fun and charming. Highly, highly recommend. The majority of it is outside, so dress for the weather, including rain. We stayed in Bamberg, which is charming, attractive and a really nice, small city. The regional wine is wonderful. There is an American military base nearby, so lots of Americans, but still very charming. Nuremburg is a little closer to Playmobil, but I've been there with my 2 year old and don't really recommend it. It's a bit of a downer of a city - heavy German architecture, major Nazi past, and a little hilly as I recall, so harder walking.

Look for rodelbahn's in Germany, which are called alpine slides in the US. Tons and tons of fun, and you'll probably be the only Americans there. You'll understand why the Germans enjoy and do so well in bobsledding.

In the past, I've been to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a very popular tourist city with medieval town hall, gates, etc. We went on a night watchman tour, walked the wall, and went up to the somewhat scary town hall tower. Our 2 year old had fun and so did we. I think it gets overrun in tourist season, so try to go in the off season.

When DD1 was 2, Bruges in Belgium and London were also very successful trips. We went in a bike tour with her in Bruges that was great fun with DD1 in a child bike seat.

My kids say eat lots of German ice cream in the ice cream shops, especially spaghetti eis. This is probably the main thing my kids miss about Germany.

My son loved the Leipzig zoo, which is very good and has a very good primate section. He made enemies with a baby chimpanzee who would hurl himself at the glass and show his butt every time my son danced or made a face, and DS still laughs at the memory. Leipzig is a somewhat depressed city in former east Germany, but we have friends there and have visited several times. It has a very interesting Stasi secret police museum in addition to the zoo, and is just a good contrast to western Germany. It's also easy to go on to Prague from there, if that trip ever appeals. The overnight train from Prague to Cologne was also a great adventure for our family... you rent couchettes and sleep on the train.

My daughter says go to Croatia. The coastline, water, swimming and boating are wonderful (but the beaches and water are all rocky, so you will be miserable without water shoes). In the summer, it's nice and hot. There are cheap flights from Germany. The waterfall park Plitvice Lakes is beautiful. We took an overnight train into the capital Zagreb, rented a car, went to Plitvice Lakes, stayed in Trogir/Split and did sightseeing, drove to Dubrovnik, did sightseeing, and flew home to Germany.

GENERAL ADVICE

If you send your child to German kindergarten (preschool) or elementary school, they are PUNCTUAL. My son's kindergarten locked the door and would not answer if you arrived late; if they happened to pass, they would open the door, chide you for being late and tell you to come back tomorrow. No joke. For a parent-teacher night at school, it was just my child's class (not the whole school, as I had assumed) and they also kept the door locked so being 5 minutes later meant I missed the whole thing.

Expect to be chided a lot. German families are generally as tolerant as ours, so one-on-one, you will find it very familiar. But Germans acting in an official capacity (principals, government officials) are strict, unhelpful and a little unfriendly. German senior citizens, especially the women, are very critical of loud children, crossing the street at the wrong time, safety infractions, taking too long, etc. etc. You have to just laugh. They clearly think they are upholding the standards of society. And they clearly are being grumps. I say this even though I have a lot of friends and experience in Germany, speak decent German, and never believed those stereotypes until living there with kids.

On the other hand, Germany is much like the US in the sense of having rules and procedures for things, things working well, etc. For example, our family missed the first leg of an overnight train trip due to some undefined track problem that snarled the whole system. When we finally arrived at our transfer station at midnight with our overnight train long gone, I did not know what the solution would be, but I figured the Germans would have one. And they did - a free night in a hotel and re-booking 24 hours later, very similar to what might happen in the US. That confidence that you can understand Germany because it is not so different in major ways is helpful even if you are having frustrations in minor ways.

German kids generally play rougher, especially boys. On playgrounds and at school, there will be less supervision and more pushing, taking or hogging. Germans will probably defend this as the value of kids figuring out for themselves and parents not suffocating kids, and indeed, these are upsides. But it is not much help when your kid complains to you indignantly and you feel powerless. You might want to learn a couple all-purpose phrases in German to help, or start automatically taking note of which kid goes to which adult when you arrive at a playground, or use simple, firm authority statements ("THAT IS HIS TOY", "NO PUSHING!") even if you say it in English.

German children ride bike and pedal-less balance bikes a lot. It's a great thing to get your child doing too. German kids also play outdoors a lot and the weather is colder than many parts of the US, so really come prepared with outdoor clothing and long underwear. My cheapie knit gloves from Virginia, for instance, did not cut it in Germany. This also goes for your baby. Germans use very big, comfortable baby carriages that they layer with sheepskin under baby, then baby in snowsuit with knit cap tied on, then sleeping sack (like a sleeping bag), and they'll keep the baby outside for hours like that. In Scandinvia, they'll deliberately deck the baby out like that, then push the carriage to the yard or balcony and leave baby outside to nap.

I don't have much more baby advice, but I think breastfeeding will not be an issue in Germany and buying whatever diapers/clothes/supplies you want will definitely not be a problem. Toys and gear will be more expensive, but also better quality. There is a lot of homeopathic and slightly crunchy approach to baby care in Germany.

Enjoy! Where in Germany will you be?

[Liziz]

american_mama -- thank you!!!! Your tips are so appreciated!