The Map of Me

By Author / Illustrator

Olga Shtonda, Nicola Davies

Genre

Family & Home

Age range(s)

Publisher

Templar

ISBN

9781835871782

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

29-01-2026

Synopsis

A gentle story about moving, making connections and mapping a better world.

When a young girl moves to a new country, her mum helps her draw a map to understand her unfamiliar surroundings. They draw the new neighbourhood, new friends and the special places the girl has found but important things from the past are missing like Grandma and Joe-Dog. So the girl makes the map bigger to include them.

Soon the girl's friends are inspired to add their own stories and the distances between them all seem to shrink. Yet when misfortune strikes and the girl's world is shown to be less fixed than she thought, how will she learn to navigate change?

Discover how we all have the power to create a better future.

Reviews

Sue

When a little girl moves home, everything feels strange and unfamiliar. With her mother's help, she creates a map of the new area, but some important things are still missing so she makes the map bigger. Soon, her new friends get involved, making everyone feel closer and more connected and, even when bad things happen, mapping things out helps her find her place in the world.

Some stories are so beautifully told that they speak directly to you - and The Map of Me is one of them. It is so gently and carefully told, making it perfect to share simply as a lovely story, but something which could be used to support children (or indeed adults) in a number of different situations. Creating a map helps the little girl to feel she has taken control of her space - made sense of her world - allowing her to not only familiarise herself with her new environment, but to connect with those who are no longer near to her. Her friends, in turn, make their own connections and broaden the map to include people, places and things which are important to them.

This story is sure to encourage children to create their own maps with family or friends, developing their sense of the world around them and those in it. Using maps to create a picture of the past and, in this case, helping the little girl to cope with feelings of grief and loss is so sensitively and thoughtfully presented. It also enables children to develop their sense of the lives of others, expanding their view beyond the 'lens of self' stage and developing empathy and understanding.

Creating these 'life maps' is a lovely idea and something which might develop cross-generational bonds. The little girl and her friends also use this as inspiration for investigating the history of their local area. The idea of 'mapping the future' is also explored, helping children to envisage what might change as well as their aspirations and hopes. Some ideas for creating these are included at the end of the book.

The illustrations throughout are delightful, offering plenty of ideas for presenting and developing different types of maps and making connections. I could waffle on and on about the many things I love about this one and the many ways in which I think it could be used and enjoyed, but will stop and simply recommend that everyone gets themselves a copy! It's very special.

Picture books / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher