Our Favorite Books: Peru

During our motorcycle travels through the Andes Mountains in northern Peru, we found this guidebook to be helpful for identifying places to stay and eat in many towns. Because of the often fluid nature of businesses in remote areas, no guidebook is going to be completely up-to-date. But we were satisfied overall with the information presented in Moon Peru.

This book was written in 1948 by Hiram Bingham, the American anthropologist/explorer who is often credited with “discovering” Machu Picchu. The first part of the book contains an excellent presentation of Inca history prior to the Spanish conquest. The latter portion provides details of Professor Bingham’s journey, his passion, personal views, professional opinions, and the hardships and risks that he took—all of which are very interesting. However, he was a man of his time and was unfortunately in tune with the heavily euro-centric mindset that held prejudiced and patronizing attitudes toward native Peruvians. He clearly viewed himself as superior to the native men who assisted him in his quest by clearing the jungle, carrying equipment, building bridges, and (ultimately) leading him right to Machu Picchu. However, the book is still valuable for its historical account, and we recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the history of Machu Picchu and how Professor Bingham’s initial visit thrust the site into the world’s spotlight.

Our family read this book over and over when the children were younger. Each page has a different rain forest animal, as well as a flap that hides another animal. The touch-and-feel textures are beautifully integrated into the drawings, and were a big hit with our kids (especially the sticky anteater tongue).

This children’s book follows the journey of a sloth as it slowly moves through a rain forest, passing by a variety of creatures, such as howler monkeys, toucans, a poison-dart frog, an anteater, fruit bats, capuchins, leafcutter ants, and more. The short sections of text contain a lot of information, accompanied by colorful illustrations.

This wonderfully detailed children’s book describes the daily life of a Peruvian boy named Kusikiy, who lives on an island in Lake Titikaka. His father grows potatoes and a grain called quinoa on the terraced hillsides. His mother spends time weaving traditional designs that contain symbols to represent important events that have happened. The story conveys a strong sense of family and community, as well as caring for the earth.

When Hiram Bingham found the overgrown ruins of Machu Picchu in 1911, he was led there by a local boy who lived nearby. This children’s book tracks that journey through the jungle and up to the mountaintop, accompanied by beautiful full-page watercolor illustrations.