We had the opportunity to review the physical book, Smoky Mountains ~ Here We Come!, which is published by the By the Way Book Series.
We are a field trip, out and about, nature-loving, go everywhere kind of family. The only thing is there are so many places to go and so much to see. The reality is we are not going to get a chance to go everywhere. Before we moved to Tennessee, I vowed we were going to go everywhere we possibly could within the state, so we didn’t miss anything if we were ever to move. That is what happened in the state where we last lived.
The By the Way Book Series creates opportunities for adults to share “God and spiritual truths in their daily lives” with their children. The original quote is taken from a stamen by Dr. Jeff Myers. The tagline for the book series is “Discovering Biblical Truth in Everyday Life.” The series includes the following titles:
Colorado ~ By the Way
Florida’s Treasure Coast ~ Here We Come!
Ohio ~ Here We Come!Pennsylvania ~ Here We Come!
Smoky Mountains ~ Here We Come!Washington ~ Here We Come!
Future titles include visits to Idaho, Indiana, Ireland and New York.
In the series, siblings Alex and Lexi take readers on adventures across the country (and around the world) as they visit some well-known and some not so familiar places on their travels. We joined them on their adventures around the world. We traveled with Alex and Lexi to the Smoky Mountains where they visited with their Uncle Ted, who is a Smoky Mountain ranger. When you hang out with a ranger, you get up close and personal in a lot of areas. Before the story begins, readers are set to task at finding a set of animals and objects on the pages of the story they are going to read. Activities like that make the book perfect for its target age of readers, which is seven through twelve years old. I think younger children will also enjoy sharing the book as a read-aloud.
The Smoky Mountains stretch from North Carolina to Tennessee. Just some of the places we got to “visit” in the Smoky Mountains are Clingman’s Dome Cove, which at 6,643 feet is the “highest point in the Appalachians;” the 2,175 miles long Appalachian Trail, which starts in Georgia, runs through Tennessee (one of 14 states) and ends in Maine; the history of the Cherokee society and Sequoyah, who developed his own Cherokee language and the mountain dulcimer that has history dating back to the Scotish-Irish immigrants who migrated to the area. There are so many places we visited while in the Smoky Mountains.
Smoky Mountains ~ Here We Come! is not limited in information about everything particular to the Smoky Mountains. The book shares geographical information, history about the people and animals of the area, landmarks, culture and products while showing the relationship to God. I like there is a mention of how lifestyle changed for the Cherokees after the “white men came.” There is beauty in the area, but also a lot of sad history. Commentary like that note provides information for younger children to know and is enough for older ones reading the book to be curious and want to pursue studying more about that history.
Author Joy Budensiek has written a great book series that reflects the experiences she had with her husband and children during their travels. It seems like they learned a lot on their family trips to various places and after reading the book, you feel like you have traveled to the same places. The illustrations by Stephanie Robledo and actual pictures bring the reader as close as they can get without physically visiting the Smoky Mountains. Curiosity is peaked at the turn of each page. The learning continues with the following items:
Smoky Mountain Poster Pack
Smoky Mountains Activity Book
Smoky Mountains Card Pak
Spring, summer and fall vacations are coming up and we decided to visit the Smoky Mountains during one of those times. We have already chosen some spots we definitely want to visit after reading Smoky Mountains ~ Here We Come!. The book will travel with us when we visit the area as a reference for things we should look for during our travels.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Smoky Mountains ~ Here We Come! is available for $14.99.
Social Media
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