Day Trips for Book Lovers
These ideas for summer excursions bring your child's favourite books to life.
By Mary Seehafer Sears

Not everyone lives near Chincoteague lsland off the Maryland and Virginia coastline (Misty of Chincoteague) or has a chance to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder house museum in the Ozarks (Little House on the Prairie). But books can inspire some exciting day trips. Consider your child's favourite stories — perhaps old classics, or something new he read during the past school year. Notice the themes that emerge, and plan a related trip. This is a fun way to support your child's curiosity about the subjects she loves most. We've identified some popular genres and suggested some activities the whole family can enjoy.

If your child loves…	Day trip ideas	Inspirational titles
History	Invite a few of his friends to take a group cooking class focusing on that period’s cuisine. A local culinary school, a living history museum or plantation, or a restaurant in a historic setting may be willing to do this for you.	Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse Ben and Me, Robert Lawson The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Elizabeth George Speare
Battles	Visit a battlefield to see a historic reenactment, or even participate in one. Another option: Explore a battleship that’s now in dry dock.	Love Thy Neighbor: The Tory Diary of Prudence Emerson, Ann Turner Slave Dancer, Paula Fox The Secret of Sarah Revere, Ann Rinaldi L'il Dan, The Drummer Boy: A Civil War Story, Romare Bearden
Knights and medieval topics	Visit a museum with an armour exhibit; eat a meal with your hands at Medieval Times restaurant attend a medieval festival on a summer weekend. With music, sporting events, and competitions, all performed in historic dress, your child will find himself fully immersed in the period.	Crispin, the Cross of Lead, Avi The Midwife's Apprentice, Karen Cushman Knight's Castle, Edward Eager The Castle Builder, Dennis Nolan
Explorers	Find out which ones ventured through your area. Plan a journey that replicates the experience. Even if Lewis and Clark were nowhere near your home, reading an excerpt from their journal and re-creating some measure of one day’s journey in a nearby park can give your child a sense of the magnitude of the endeavour.  Mark a trail through the woods and walk it carrying a backpack, and perhaps some of the equipment the explorers brought along. Or go tubing down a river that figures in your child’s reading; just for the day, call it the mighty Mississippi, even if it isn’t.	Lewis and Clark: In Their Own Words, George Sullivan Encounter, Jane Yolen To the Edge of the World, Michele Torrey Finding the Titanic, Robert D. Ballard
Animals	Join your child in volunteering for a morning at the animal shelter. She’ll find our just what’s involved in keeping the pets clean, happy, and well fed. Or head for a thoroughbred horse farm or racetrack; some have trackside restaurants that serve breakfast during morning workouts.	A Cricket in Times Square, George Selden The Story of Ferdinand, Munro Leaf Babe, the Gallant Pig, Dick King-Smith Clifford the Big Red Dog, Norman Bridwell
Boating and fishing	Visit a fish hatchery. You can also take a fishing trip or a riverboat cruise. If you’re lucky enough to live near a canal, rent a boat and take a leisurely ride through the locks. Watch the water rise and fall as you travel from place to place.	All Dads on Deck, Judy Delton True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi Jim Davis: A High-Sea Adventure, John Masefield Young Man and the Sea, Rodman Philbrick
Adventure	Consider a kayaking lesson for the whole family. Go fossil hunting or spelunking. Walk through underground caverns. Sit by a waterfall.	The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle BFG, Roald Dahl Five on a Treasure Island, Enid Blyton
Robots	Engineer a trip to a factory where things are assembled.	Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Mecha-Monkeys from Mars, Dav Pilkey Robots Rising, Carol Sonenklar Snowie Rolie, William Joyce Batteries Not Included, Seth McEvoy
Detective stories	See if an investigator at your local police department would be willing to tell your child how he does his job and share a tale or two. You can also visit a magic shop and buy some “surveillance” equipment like binoculars, a walkie-talkie, a fingerprinting kit, and a magnifying glass, and send your child off on their own benign spying missions.	The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, Donald J. Sobol Miss Nelson is Missing, Harry G. Allard Olivia and the Missing Toy, Ian Falconer
Music	Budding musicians might enjoy a visit to a factory where guitars are made. Or get tickets to a film or music festival that focuses on a particular country or composer.	Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, Lloyd Moss Duke Ellington, Mike Venezia When Marion Sang, Pam Munoz Ryan The Muffin Fiend, Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Biographies	A day trip to the house where a famous person was born is always fun, especially when that person’s books, papers, and personal effects are still on display. (A trip to the gift shop afterwards is mandatory!)	Sojourner Truth, Ain't I a Woman, Patricia McKissack and Frederick McKissack Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard, Mawi Asgedom Heroine of the Titanic: The Real Unsinkable Molly Brown, Elaine Landau Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America, Sharon Robinson
Art	Visit an art museum for half a day, then bring the kids to a paint-your-own-pottery place to reproduce some of the same colours and ideas you saw that day.	Chasing Vermeer, Blue Balliett No Good in Art, Miriam Cohen Leonardo, Beautiful Dreamer, Robert Byrd Van Gogh, Mike Venezia
Ancient Egypt	Visit ruins and archaeological finds at a museum. Sketch some of the structures, then re-create them at home with a pile of cardboard boxes or tent poles and sheets.	The Magnificent Mummy Maker, Elvira Woodruff Ancient Egypt Revealed, Peter Crisp The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder Ms. Frizzle's Adventures: Ancient Egypt, Joanna Cole
First Nations	Attend a powwow or festival that celebrates First Nations heritage. Investigate the foods our country’s first inhabitants ate and forage for them in the woods with the help of a qualified instructor.	Arrow to the Sun, Gerald McDermott Island of the Blue Dolphin, Scott O'Dell Kaya: An American Girl, Janet Beeler Shaw The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow: The Diary of Sarah Nita, Navajo Girl, Ann Turner
Archaeology	Take a trip to a sandy beach. Ask the kids to cover their eyes for a few minutes while you bury “fossils” (painted rocks) in the sand. Then hand out small shovels and paintbrushes to dust off the sand, and let the kids unearth all the treasures. Depending on where you live, there might be an actual dig going on in your area, where children can participate or observe; check with the science department of your local college or look for an archaeology camp.	A Bone from a Dry Sea, Peter Dickinson Bones, Bones, Dinosaur Bones, Byron Barton The Field Mouse and the Dinosaur Named Sue, Jan Wahl Fingerprints and Talking Bones, Charlotte Jones
Comic books and graphic novels	Have your child adopt his favorite character’s identity for the entire day, whether you’re on a trip or just staying home. This is a chance to try on a new name and identity and use the customs and manners of another place and time — even the future!	Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Captain Poopypants, Dav Pilkey The Adventures of Tintin, Herge Meanwhile… Jules Feiffer Just Annoying, Andy Griffiths

You can also approach summer in the opposite way — visit somewhere first, then introduce a book, especially to tempt a child who's not an avid reader. Destination ideas abound online, or consult a regional travel guide. Two to try: Frommer's Family Vacations in the National Parks, by Charles Wohlforth, and Watch it Made in the USA: A Visitor's Guide to the Companies that Make Your Favorite Products, by Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg. Fodor's Family Adventures, by Christine Loomis, focuses on longer vacations, not day trips, but includes names of books for kids who like archaeology, hiking, backpacking, and animals.