Kirkpatrick casts an unusual sidelight on the exploits of Peary and Henson with this profile of Peary’s daughter Marie, who was born in 1893 in a two-room house in northern Greenland, and spent large portions of her youth north of the Arctic Circle. In the sparely written chronicle of her travels and in the healthy suite of accompanying photos, she comes across as a lively sort, as comfortable at sea or on the ice as in her well-to-do grandparents’ household or the Peary’s idyllic Maine island retreat. The photos are atmospherically tinted to look like platinum prints and are about equally divided between shots of Marie in refined city dress and in heavy furs. The author leaves a few questions unanswered—readers will have to look elsewhere for the significance of Marie’s middle name, “Ahnighito,” for instance. Further, she covers the last six decades of her life as a memoirist and children’s author in a few sentences. Still, Kirkpatrick is frank enough to mention Marie’s half-Inuit siblings, introduces a circle of colorful friends and associates and conveys some sense of what it was like to grow up with a famous, but often absent, father. (index, source notes) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2007
ISBN: 0-8234-1973-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2007
Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her...
In an eye-opening companion to such works as Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (1999) and Elizabeth Cody Kimmel’s Ice Story (p. 66) on Shackleton, readers get a contemporary look at Antarctica.
Wheeler offers a scrapbook-style travelogue of her seven-month stint on the world’s coldest continent. Letters to her godson, Daniel, describe a harsh environment so cold that dental fillings fall out. Double-page spreads dotted with full-color snapshots form short chapters on the icy region, suiting up, the difficulties of everyday existence, food and drink, shelter, transportation, entertainment, and wildlife. The last third of the volume is devoted to current scientific pursuits as well as an overview of famous expeditions to the nearly uninhabitable “bottom of the planet.” The cheery photographs – most by the author – show her dwarfed by the Barne glacier, posing with Emperor penguins, even building an igloo. While the chatty letters highlight personal details of the trip, boxed inserts provide background information. Key dates in Antarctic history complete this accessible profile, ideal as entry into units on the region. (maps, charts, diagrams, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-87226-295-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1999
From Kroll (Lewis and Clark, 1994, etc.), a handsomely illustrated biography that introduces a fascinating historical figure and will make readers yearn for more information. The facts are covered, including Fulton’s stints as sign painter, air-gun inventor, and apprentice jeweler; Kroll states clearly which details cannot be pinned down, and the probable order of events and incidents. The text is informative and lively, although in places the transitions are abrupt, e.g., one of the only references to Fulton’s personal life—“Meanwhile, on January 7, 1808, Fulton had married Harriet Livingston. She bore him four children”—quickly reverts to details on the building of boats. Warm gold-toned paintings convey a sense of times past and complement the text. Especially appealing are the depictions of the steamships. A welcome volume. (chronology) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)
Pub Date: March 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1433-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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