It's the summer refrain on planes, cars and trains: "Are we almost there?" Savy parents don't head down the road to frustration, nor do they pop in a DVD. They've packed activity books. Like DVDs, these books bring quiet. Unlike DVDs, they actually inspire thought, interaction, and more fun than picking on a sibling. Here are so recent releases to provide travel relief and pleasure.
Younger childen will be quickly engaged by Eric Hill's "Fun With Spot: Sticker Stories" (Grosset & Dunlap, $4.99; ages 3-6). Bright colorful pages picture a variety of settings and the book's middle holds stickers that relate to the settings. With only a bit of parent coaching, children can make up stories about Spot from the sticker pictures they've created.
Klutz Press is the ultimate kid-pleasing activity book company. Their new series, "Books in a Cup," fit neatly in a drink holder. Two recent activity sets, "Lime" and "Orange" contain four activity books held together with a pencil that looks like a straw. Activities include the basic like connect the dots, quizzes, and word puzzles. There are also road scavenger hunts, games to play with other travelers, and ideas for turning common objects into playthings. Who knows, your children might learn to make an origami ring from a dollar bill. As usual, the wild writing style, thoughtful presentation, and playful graphics make games, drawing, thinking, learning as refreshing as a big cup of cold drink on a summer's day. ($9.95 each, ages 8-12)
Older travelers - especially those whose thoughts drift to bathroom humor - will enjoy "Stinky Thinking: The Big Book of Gross Games and Brain Teasers" by Alan Katz (Aladdin, $6.99; ages 8-10). They'll hardly notice there's a little science, math and thinking mixed in with activities from the "learning lab of Dr. Mortimer Gross, B.M. graduate of Flushing University." As if the humor of boogers and other body fluids weren't enough, the illustrations are by wacky artist Laurie Keller.
The always kid-popular Guiness World Records has developed "Guiness World Records Brain Stretching Quiz Pad" and "Guiness World Records Mind Boggling Quiz Pad" (both from Price, Stern, Sloan, $5.99, ages 9-adult). Puzzles and quizzes are built around themes such as sports, the military and the natural world. These activity books may start out bringing calm to the backseat and end by inspiring family discussions about the fascinating facts they reveal.
In the quieter category come two independent activity books from Candlewick. The publisher has shrunk 13 of Martin Hanford's famous detail-packed drawings into a travel-friendly mini-book "Where's Waldo: The Wonder Book" ($5.99; ages 6-10). "Thirty million people have found Waldo" boasts the back cover and who doesn't know a child who has been absorbed by searching intricate illustrations to find the striped-shirt and walking cane of Waldo. Impossible to see in this mini-version? It comes with a mini magnifier tucked neatly into a pocket in the front cover.
Want to search more? Try B.G. Hennessy's "The Once Upon a Time: Map Book" (Candlewick, $11.99; ages 7-10). While Mom and Dad consult road maps, children can tour six enchanted lands like Neverland, Oz, and Giant's Kingdom with maps that offer tours, suggest items to find, and offer trails to trace through fanciful lands.
Always popular Mad Libs continue their tradition of fill-in-the-blank fun with "Graduation Mad Libs" and "Summer Camp Mad Libs Junior." (Both from Price, Stern Sloan, $3.99; ages 6- adult) These are always guaranteed to break travel tension with a shared family laugh. How about a game of cards? Easy to pack and play are Lynn Gordon's "52 Fun Things to Do in the Car" and "52 Fun Things to do on the Plane" (both from Chronicle, $6.95) Each card suggests an activity that is plane or car specific - e.g. "Write out, or draw all the different parts of an airplane." The two decks are filled with ideas guaranteed to initiate creativity even in confined spaces.
If you're cramped in a car, play Matthew and Mark Lore's game "Rubberneckers". This highly interactive card game depends on discovering things outside the car (ex. "find an orange sign") or encouraging road play ("Get someone in another car to make a peace sign."). The game has several levels of play, but if they're all too difficult, try RubberNeckers Jr. Its card deck is filled with cartoon pictures, fewer words, easier objects to find and a simpler strategy. (Both from Chronicle, $12.95).
Tony Tallarico's "License Plates Across the States" (Price Stern Sloan, $4.99; ages 5-10) features mazes, word puzzles and trivia designed to relate information about regions across America. But the best part of this book is a map of the U.S. and full color mock license plate stickers which even younger children can hunt down on the highway and affix to the proper geographic location.
Audio books offer immediate family relief and connection and there are new releases to please all ages! For younger children, there's Beverly Cleary's "Ribsy" (HarperAudio, $22.00, ages 5-8). Performed by actor Neil Patrick Harris of "Doogie Howser" fame, this story of Henry Huggin's dog chronicles the every day adventures of a canine with a mind of his own. This is a classic which has endured for years with good reason!
Harper Audio also releases a series of rich recordings of C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" performed by the likes of Lynn Redgrave, Michael York, and Kenneth Branagh (each $29.95 unabridged from Harper Audio, 4 CDs, 4 hours)
Alexander McCall Smith - author of the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series - a new collection perfect for family traveling. "The Girl Who Married a Lion" (Recorded Books, $22.99, unabridged, 4CDs, 5 hours) offers more than 30 stories from Botswana and Zimbabwe that lend themselves to spoken word. All these stories have a strong moral kernel, but none preach. These are read by multiple narrators, all of them gifted in storytelling.
And last, but not least, by the time this column is printed, there will be an audio version of J.K. Rowling's latest, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" read by award-winning narrator Jim Dale (Learning Library,unabridged, 12 cassettes, $50, or 18 CDs, $75)