I’m always on the lookout for new ways to entertain my children while traveling, so when a new book of travel games and activities appeared in my mailbox, I was excited to check it out.  I thumbed quickly through the book and then placed it on my “to do” pile for future review.

That was the last I saw of Miles of Smiles for a while.

My first clue as to the book’s whereabouts came from my 7 year old daughter, who suddenly seemed to have picked up a whole new set of vacation and geography jokes.

“Why did the tire need a vacation?” she asked me as I washed the dishes. I shrugged.  “He couldn’t take the pressure,”  she deadpanned.  “What did Tennessee?” she continued. Again, I had no idea.  “The same thing Arkansas,” she proudly related.

“Where did you learn all of these great jokes?” I asked as I laughed.

“In a book,” she replied vaguely.

A few days later, she was at it again, surprising me with increasing numbers of arcane facts.  She was suddenly spouting random information, everything from collective nouns for animal groups to the names of the original thirteen American colonies.  Again, she credited “a book” for her new-found knowledge.

When she started suggesting “great new games” to play in the car, many of which I remembered from my own childhood but was certain I’d never taught to her, the gig was up.  I suddenly knew why I hadn’t seen that Miles of Smiles book in my “to do” pile for a while.  Sure enough, a little searching uncovered the little guide in a pile of books next to my daughter’s bed.

Soon after I liberated the book from her room, we took it for a test drive on a weekend road trip. The book’s 101 games and activities held few surprises for me—most were variations on games I played as a child. But I was surprised to see just how much my kids enjoyed them. By the end of the trip, we had a whole host of new travel games in our repertoire (and thanks to a new license plate game, I could finally remember my own plate number).

The publisher touts Miles of Smiles as a great book to keep in your glove compartment, and I’m sure that’s a terrific idea. But Julia has already smuggled our copy back into her room. At least I’ll know where to find it for our next road trip.

Want your own copy of Miles of Smiles? We’ve got one to give away to one lucky reader! Leave a comment below by midnight on Wednesday, May 6, 2009 to be entered in our random drawing.  U.S. only please.  Good luck!

Speaking of books, need a kids book recommendation?  Here’s a great kids’ book review site.

April 29th, 2009 | by Rebecca Tompkins 12 comments