From Middle Earth to Hundred Acre Wood: putting fiction on the map

If a picture tells a thousand words, then does a map tell a million? From JK Rowling’s Marauder’s Map to JRR Tolkien’s map of Middle Earth, maps in novels help both characters and readers to find themselves

In praise of travel books and the places they take us

Maps. They help us to make sense not only of our world, but also the worlds to which novels have the ability to transport us. They show us fantastical lands, outer space, subterranean environments and the inside of castles, and influence the way in which we as readers visualise the imaginary world. Although nowadays we see maps springing up all over the place in books for children and teens, their use in this way can be seen as a relatively recent invention. In fact, it wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that we began to see maps being introduced into novels for children and young adults, one of the first of which was Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

Continue reading...