Exploring the Polar Regions

From School Library Journal
Gr 4-8--Two broad overviews for interested browsers. Polar Regions is the more successful book because the subject can be surveyed more easily by children curious about how exploration of these regions has progressed. Green begins with an explanation of what polar regions are. The remainder of the book offers two-page discussions of various efforts to locate, map, colonize, and cross the North or South Poles. The chronology begins with Eric the Red in A.D. 986 and continues through 1992-3. Africa begins with a two-page illustration of the continent before 1500 showing the trade routes among the indigenous peoples, followed by a two-page discussion of the northern African trading peoples. The next 16 topics address European exploration and colonization, concluding with a brief discussion of the African independence movements. The text covers so much territory that children with little knowledge of history will gain only the most cursory understanding. A chronology from 814 B.C. to 1894 offers an overview, and the glossary offers some help with the variety of concepts required in such a brief glimpse into such a vast subject. In both books, the maps are well drawn and keyed, and the illustrations are adequate. The indexes will facilitate some use by report writers, but students will find encyclopedias more useful. Additional purchases for most libraries.Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, HoustonCopyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Exploring the Polar Regions describes the perils of Arctic and Antarctic travel, and the courage of the explorers who first mapped these frozen wastelands. It tells of the quest for the fabled Northwest and Northeast Passages through icy Arctic seas, of Peary's conquest of the North Pole, Shackleton's epic journey and the race for the South Pole. You will learn why these explorers set out, hazards they encountered along the way, what they discovered in the farthest reaches of the Earth, and more. Clear maps and superb reconstructions bring these journeys vividly to life.

Card catalog description
Tells the stories of the European and American adventurers who faced the harshest conditions on earth to explore the North and South Poles.


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Gr 4-8Two broad overviews for interested browsers. Polar Regions is the more successful book because the subject can be surveyed more easily by children curious about how exploration of these regions has progressed. Green begins with an explanation of what polar regions are. The remainder of the book offers two-page discussions of various efforts to locate, map, colonize, and cross the North or South Poles. The chronology begins with Eric the Red in A.D. 986 and continues through 1992-3. Africa begins with a two-page illustration of the continent before 1500 showing the trade routes among the indigenous peoples, followed by a two-page discussion of the northern African trading peoples. The next 16 topics address European exploration and colonization, concluding with a brief discussion of the African independence movements. The text covers so much territory that children with little knowledge of history will gain only the most cursory understanding. A chronology from 814 B.C. to 1894 offers an overview, and the glossary offers some help with the variety of concepts required in such a brief glimpse into such a vast subject. In both books, the maps are well drawn and keyed, and the illustrations are adequate. The indexes will facilitate some use by report writers, but students will find encyclopedias more useful. Additional purchases for most libraries.Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston


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