ANTARCTIC ENCOUNTER: Destination South Georgia

A uniquely personal introduction to the Antarctic and to a way of life that will leave readers wanting more. Dion, Leiv, and Diti are three young boys who live during the winter with their scientist parents on a sheep farm on Beaver Island in the Falklands. The summer is spent on a specially built yacht moored at an even more remote island in Antarctica, South Georgia, while the parents pursue scientific investigations of local wildlife. The boys don't have television, school buses, or playdates; instead they have seals, penguins, ocean-going birds, and scientists for friends. The text is the work of a loving mother and scientist, not a writer. It is frustratingly vague about why the whaling stations were abandoned, and why scientists keep track of animal populations. Children may be too enthralled by the boys' adventuresome lives to mind gaps in the narration. The full-color photographs mix boys, boat, and wildlife, all of which are fascinating. A map and photographic glossary of the fauna of South Georgia are helpful additions.