The Little Man In the Map
With Clues to Remember All 50 States
by E. Andrew Martonyi
illustrated by Ed Olson
Schoolside Press

book review by Kathye Fetsko Petrie

How absolutely clever: The author of this children's picture book has discovered a way for persons of any age to look at a blank map of the U.S.—one containing only the outlines of the states—and be able to locate and name all fifty and not forget them.

The key to this feat rests on learning the names of five core states—Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana—and recognizing that the shapes of these states, stacked one upon the other as they are, visually form the figure of a man standing in profile. Minnesota makes the man's hat, Iowa his face, Missouri his shirt, Arkansas his pants, and Louisiana his boot. As an aid to remembering the names of these core states, the figure is given the name MIM, an acronym for both The Man In the Map and Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. Once one knows the states that form MIM, one can learn the other states by learning to see them as images, many in relationship to MIM. Thus Kansas, near MIM's back, is seen as MIM's backpack.

But how can one remember that the backpack-shaped state is called Kansas? To this end, the author supplies information via rhymes such as the "Michigan's a mitten..." Eventually, readers will come to know these verses by heart. Some of these poem-clues are forced, but, hey, they accomplish the book's purpose, which is to teach the states in a memorable way.

Fifty states is a lot to learn and, at first, can be confusing. With each rereading, however, each visual and accompanying poem-clue gets easier. This reviewer read the book once, studied it twice, and a week later could fill in all the names of the states on an outline map—something she had never before been able to do. If a past-fifty adult can remember the locations of the states from repeated readings of The Little Man In the Map, any kid can.

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