Our trip to Italy has inspired this travel book list. If you want your little ones to pick up small tidbits of information before you head to Italy like us, it’s best to let them learn through children’s books. Here are travel books and kids’ books for your children’s library that we’ve been reading all the time. 

Being able to travel the world and check off our bucket list with kids in tow is not an easy job! However, we’re so excited to embark on this journey — to Italy! What better way to educate our kids than with children’s books about travel.

I am most excited because the kids are a lot more excited than I thought they would be. They love going on trips but I didn’t realize they were going to learn so much about Italy before we went. 

I started to teach the girls some Italian and to my surprise, they were learning the language faster than I could teach them, so they started Italian school. I also read them books about places we’d visit and while I thought they might get bored with the history, art, etc… they loved it and wanted more adventure travel books. Even our young boys are practicing their “ciao” and loved the picture books about Venice and all the boats.

I know there are a lot of activity books, book series, and board books about Italy out there, and it might get pretty overwhelming for you. So what have we been reading over the past 6 months?

Here’s a list of books that we have been reading on repeat, both the kids and what I have been reading. There are travel books, language books, fiction, and nonfiction. If you’re planning a road trip to Italy or just want to add some books about Italy to your library, this is the list for you!

Kids Books About Italy:

It wasn’t easy finding books at first. You can find a few general books about Italy, but I was looking for more specific books on places we would be and some more historical fiction. Thanks to Instagram and following families that travel, I found some great books about these travel tales. 

For Florence, @catsgomarching (blog: Cats Go Marching) shared some books that were fast favorites in our house and exactly what I was looking for. For Venice, @wanderlust.crew (blog: Wanderlust Crew) shared a ton of awesome books in her post all about taking kids to Venice.

Speaking of Instagram: I found out that @tavaadventures makes her own travel products for kids. I ordered 2 of her passports (Rome and Florence) and they are AMAZING.

 

Rome

Where is the Colosseum // Madeline and the Cats of Rome //  Mission Rome (Scavenger Hunt) // This is Rome //  Ancient Rome 

 

Venice

This is Venice // Who Was Marco Polo // Vendela in Venice // Mimi & Piggy’s Adventure in Venice // Treasure Hunt Venice // Zoe Sophia’s Scrapbook: An Adventure in Venice

Florence

Pippo the Fool // Stone Giant // Galileo, Michelangelo and Da Vinci // Mission Florence: Scavenger Hunt 

 

Italian Language & General Books

Let’s Cook Italian (gives each recipe in English and Italian) // Take me Back to Italy // The Toddler’s Handbook, Over 100 Words in Italian // Elmer Series // For MORE Italian books for kids, visit this post.

Best Italy Travel Books:

 

I know there’s a ton of travel info on the internet but I still think travel books are key to have. I like that you can find them by area, with yearly updates, etc. Also, it condenses the millions of web pages into one. Sometimes if I find something in a travel book and I want more info on it, I head to Tripadvisor or Google to see if any travel writers or bloggers have written about it. 

My favorite travel books are Eyewitness Travel. They have been forever. This time, traveling with the kids, I was happy to find Italy travel books geared toward families and even some cool books for kids. Here’s what we have:

Family Guide Italy 2018 // Rome 2018 // Italian Riviera // 15 Minute Italian // Ancient Rome (kids) 

And for a travel activity, Children Just Like Me Ultimate Sticker Book

My Favorite Books about Italy:

Beautiful Ruins // Four Seasons in Rome // Chasing Frances: A Pilgrim’s Tale

 

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