Maps are pictures of places. They can be printed on paper or shown on a screen. A map shows you how to get around in a place that is unfamiliar. A map can even tell you new things about a place you know.

What is a map, anyway? How do they work? Maps and Mapping for Canadian Kids will walk kids through elements of a map. By discussing concepts such as scale, symbols, and colour, they''ll see how maps work and how to read them. Basic principles of navigation explain how early explorers and navigators were able to chart the world, and Canada in particular. A special section on David Thompson highlights the achievements of this great Canadian cartographer.

Paul Heersink is a professional cartographer, who often supplies maps for the Dear Canada series. He has been drawing maps and atlases since he was a young boy. After seven years as a social worker, he finally decided to follow his first love: he went back to school to study mapping and now works in that field! Laura and Paul are married with two children. They live in Markham, Ontario.