Panama

Before you visit the Panama Canal, read the exciting story of this engineering feat – lock and lakes design, how the canal was constructed, building the three sets of locks on the Atlantic and Pacific, and two page spread of how the canal works. (Picture book)

Exciting history of one of the most dangerous engineering projects in the world, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Photos and drawings of the construction, leaders and events. (Illustrated chapter book)

Captivating novel of the "silver people" – young laborers, immigrants from many countries, who moved train tracks in rain and hot sun, survived disease and mudslides, and shoveled the Serpent Cut by hand. Great for older kids. (Chapter book)

The ingenious title (a palindrome) sets the scene for this documentary about the Panama Canal – from de Lesseps, who tried and failed, to Teddy Roosevelt, the American president who took up the difficult task, and the inventive engineers and workers who made it happen. Fabulous black and white historical footage makes the canal construction come alive. Good for older kids. (Video – DVD)

Conejito, "little bunny," goes to visit his auntie, dancing and leaping all the way. But on the way home, how can Conejito avoid the fox, tiger and lion who want to eat him for lunch? (Picture book)

Loggerhead turtles swim year round in the waters around Panama, and here's a delightful story of one baby turtle, "not much bigger than a bottle top." The tiny turtle outgrows her underwater nursery, wanders far and wide, leaving no trace, until one summer night she returns to the beach where she was born. (Picture book)

We saw three-toed sloths sleeping in the trees in Panama. What happens when the trees are uprooted by bulldozers? This is a marvelous pop-up story of a forest destroyed, the sloth swinging from one remaining tree ... but when the forest is re-planted, once more the sloth gently sways in the treetops. (Pop-up book)

A rhyming story with gorgeous collages takes you into the tropical rainforest. “Over in the jungle, in a bromeliad heaven, lived a frog, and her little froggies seven.” A delight for little ones. (Picture book)

Discover Panama today – landscape, history as a Spanish colony, digging the Panama Canal, people and culture, festivals and food. Good for older kids. (Illustrated chapter book)