Culture & first-language picture books · Ages 4–8
Spin the globe. Meet a culture. Speak a new language.
In every book, Atlas travels to a real country. He tries the food, learns the customs, makes a friend, and picks up ten words of the local language, with pronunciation spelled out so you can say them together. Each book works as a ready-made world-cultures unit for homeschool families.
- Merhaba Turkish
- Konnichiwa Japanese
- Dia duit Irish
- ¡Hola! Spanish
- Jambo Swahili
- Teşekkürler Thank you
- Arigatou Thank you
- Go raibh maith agat Thank you
- Pura vida All good
- Asante Thank you
What your kids learn
More than a trip. A first look at how other people live and talk.
Kids don't remember a country from a fact sheet. They remember the boy who bowed to say thank you in Japan, ate ugali with his hands in Tanzania, and learned that "Pura vida" can mean hello, goodbye and thank you.
Ten words in a new language
Each book teaches greetings, please and thank you, yes and no, and a few traveler's phrases. Every word comes with an easy pronunciation guide, so you don't need to speak the language to teach it.
Customs, manners and traditions
Bowing in Japan, tea in tulip glasses in Türkiye, the Maasai jumping dance, Irish fiddle music, and why you never feed the monkeys in Costa Rica. Kids see what's normal somewhere else and why.
Taste it, map it, make a friend
Baklava, takoyaki, soda bread, gallo pinto and chapati. A route map at the start of every book. And a new friend in every country, met before they ever share a language.
The series
Five books, five cultures, five languages
Pick a passport stamp to open a book. The language lab and unit study below switch to the same country.
Language lab
Try the phrasebook before you buy
Suna Fuller arrived in the United States at 15 without a word of English, so every book ends with the words that make a first conversation possible. These are the exact ten words and phrases from the back of each book. Tap a word to mark it practiced. Turn on quiz mode to hide the meanings and test yourselves.
For homeschool families
One book, one week of world culture
Read the book on Monday, then spend the week going deeper. Here is a simple five-day plan built from what's inside the book. Pick a country to change the plan.
Why families choose Atlas
Made for read-aloud learning at the kitchen table
Reads like a story, teaches like a lesson
The facts, words and customs live inside a story kids want to hear again. Every reread is a review session that doesn't feel like one.
A gentle first foreign language
Ten useful words per book is small enough for a four-year-old and big enough to use at dinner all week. Five books give you five languages to compare.
Works across ages
Little ones follow the pictures and the new friend. Older siblings take the map, the facts and the phrasebook further. One read-aloud covers the whole family.
Builds empathy along with knowledge
Atlas bows, says thank you in the local language, follows local manners and makes friends everywhere. Kids learn that different isn't strange. It's interesting.
The fact machine
Kids collect facts like souvenirs
Every book is full of true facts about language, customs, food and nature. Here are a few favorites. Press the button for another.
Coming soon
Atlas is coming to the screen
We're making short animated episodes of each adventure for YouTube, with the language and culture moments brought to life so kids can hear the words spoken. Follow along on Instagram to be first to know when episode one is ready.
Episode 1 coming soon
Five cultures. Five languages. One bookshelf.
Collect all five adventures and give your kids a head start on understanding the world, one country and ten words at a time.