raisingcuriosity

Hi,

We're traveling to Spain (Andalusia) with our kids in April and want to find some fun reading material for our family prior to our trip. It can be fiction or non-fiction and really any topic from kid friendly travel guides, to art, history, culture.... The more suggestions the better! Our kids are 10 (boy) and 8 (girl).

Also, if anyone has tips on "must see" sights or unique places in the Seville/Granada/Cordoba area, we'd love some recommendations for these as well.

Thanks so much!

StCirq

Ferdinand the Bull, by Munro Leaf.

Dusty_roads

We traveled to Spain last summer with our 13 and 16 yr old. A bit older than your kids, but here are some books they read (or listened to):

Tales of the Alhambra (can read excerpts)
Lost in Spain by John Wilson (about a teen during the Spanish Civil War)
Arabian Nights (excerpts)

We loved Granada, the Alhambra, wandering the back streets, markets, tea shops. It was our daughter's favorite place in Spain.

raisingcuriosity

Thanks for your recommendations StCirq and Dusty_roads! Looking forward to checking them out!

Dusty_roads - glad to hear you and your family loved Granada. Would you recommend more time in Grenada over Seville?

Thanks again!

Dusty_roads

We did not go to Seville. We were in Madrid, Segovia, Pena de Francia and up north in Catalunya. We stayed in a couple Paradors for the castle experience, which the kids loved.

330east

How about parts of Iberia by James MIchener;

And Yikes-The great classic Ferdinand the Bull was the 1st book I ever took out of a library.

kimhe

Both Sevilla and Granada are great cities (as are Córdoba, Málaga and Cádiz), but I think most will agree that Sevilla is the undisputed queen among the cities in Andalucía. Lots of history from Roman and Moorish times and before, but the city reached a huge peak during the 16th and 17th centuries after the "discovery" of America. Tons of Roman, Moorish, Jewish, Gitano and Christian history and culture
http://www.andalucia.com/cities/sevilla.htm

I think the great Andalusian poet Manuel Machado captures the magic of Sevilla in his classical homage to the southern provincial capitals "Canto a Andalucía". Each of the cities are poetically described until it comes to Sevilla...

A translation would be something like this:

“Cádiz, salty clarity,
Granada hidden water that weeps.
Roman and Moorish, silent Cordoba.
Singing Málaga.
Golden Almería.
Silvery Jaén.
Huelva on the borders of the three caravels
…and Sevilla.”

Your kids might love to go to the ruins of the Roman city Itálica (founded 206 BC) just outside Sevilla. The famous emperor Trajan was born here, and the theater - which seated 25 000 spectators - was the third largest in the Roman empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italica

Great and updated info about Sevilla: http://www.exploreseville.com/

Sevilla for kids: http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/08/27...pagewanted=all

Aduchamp1

How about parts of Iberia by James MIchener
_____
They will never want to visit Spain if they read Michener.

Platero Y Yo or Platero and I was written by Juan Ramón Jiménez who won the Nobel for Literature. It is a story about a donkey in very ornate language. Try to get the bi-lingual version, so the kids can learn a few words in Spanish.

"If there are in world literature two or three books capable of giving back to the people their childhood soul, Platero and I is among them," commented the noted French journal Figaro recently.

http://www.amazon.com/Platero-I-Juan.../dp/0292764790

raisingcuriosity

Thank you all for your input! @Kimhe - I really appreciate your insight and links... this is perfect. The Times article had great ideas - just what we are hoping for.

@Aduchamp1 - thanks for recommending Platero and I... just ordered the dual language edition. Perfect!!

** This is my first time using the Fodor's forum for trip planning. Thanks so much for such thoughtful, helpful feedback.

kimhe

Just glad to help. If you go to Córdoba, you might also want to visit the ruins of the 10th century palace city Madinat al-Zahra just outside town? http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/en...d4/madinat.htm

Wonderful Córdoba is only 50 mins from Sevilla with the high speed AVE train. Book in advance at renfe.com and save more than 50%.