reviews
May 02, 2011
As a child, I was fascinated by how early explorers sailed the oceans to new lands, pushing the limits of their knowledge. I remember learning about how Magellan's fleet circumnavigated to world - it was just captivating to learn about, and yet seemed so hard to imagine. Oh, if I only had been able to read Into the Unknown by Stewart Ross and Stephen Biesty - still, as an adult, I've poured over this book for hours and hours. If your child is fascinated by history, travel, exploration, maps or e
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Jan 21, 2012
Age: 8-12
Art: cross-sections, foldouts
Starting in 340 BC with Pytheas the Greek and ending in 1969 with the Apollo 11 moon landing, Ross and illustrator Stephen Bietsy fill this exemplary nonfiction book with intriguing facts and near peril. "These journeys of exploration are not necessarily the most important in terms of what they found, but each one is extraordinary for the way it was made."
Somewhat as an explorer himself, Ross has traveled all over the More...
Art: cross-sections, foldouts
Starting in 340 BC with Pytheas the Greek and ending in 1969 with the Apollo 11 moon landing, Ross and illustrator Stephen Bietsy fill this exemplary nonfiction book with intriguing facts and near peril. "These journeys of exploration are not necessarily the most important in terms of what they found, but each one is extraordinary for the way it was made."
Somewhat as an explorer himself, Ross has traveled all over the More...
Jan 17, 2012
As posted on Outside of a Dog:
The first thing to say about Stewart Ross' Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air must be said. This book is cool. Like, super-duper cool. If I can just get kids, especially boys, to open the book, I know I'll have them hooked. Into the Unknown tells the tale of fourteen great explorations and the great men and women who undertook them. Each section is rich in historical facts and modern context, and makes for interes More...
The first thing to say about Stewart Ross' Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air must be said. This book is cool. Like, super-duper cool. If I can just get kids, especially boys, to open the book, I know I'll have them hooked. Into the Unknown tells the tale of fourteen great explorations and the great men and women who undertook them. Each section is rich in historical facts and modern context, and makes for interes More...
Aug 03, 2011
Drystan - I thought it was great. I would give it 5 stars. My favourite story was about the Appollo 11 moon landing. I liked this best because I can't imagine building a straight, big rocket that would reach the moon. I thought that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin achieved their dream by travelling to the moon. I'd like to go to the moon too.
Dylan - My favourite story was the mission to the bottom of the sea. I liked this one best because I would like to do this myself. I would li More...
Dylan - My favourite story was the mission to the bottom of the sea. I liked this one best because I would like to do this myself. I would li More...
11 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Sep 03, 2011
This is the way to do kids' nonfiction! It's visual, it's tactile, it lets kids come along on the origin stories of things they've always known, and it manages to juxtapose Pytheas with Neil Armstrong. My only quibble is that I would've liked to see more attention paid to the natives of the places being explored. But the book is far from ethnocentric; it includes explorers from varied parts of the world and never claims that the "discovered" places were actually new.
Aug 01, 2011
Fabulous and informative. Worth owning so you can pore over it at random. Love how it includes eras, areas (space, undersea) besides the "usual suspects" and has lots of fascinating details like how a ship's poor design could impact the success of an explorer. For geography, history and science buffs alike. Of course, Biesty's amazing-as-usual detailed drawings hold a whole book's worth of info--here they are smaller-than-trim-sized, multifold booklets.
May 21, 2011
This is a great book to add to your youth non fiction collection. The illustrations are amazing and it's chock full of resource information. From Viking discoverys to the landing on the moon, this book takes important discovery events and showcases them with rich text and intricate illustrations. As a bonus each chapter has a fold out diagrams that are super. A wonderful book to relax to.
Dec 10, 2011
This is a rich nonfiction text that I would like to have in my classroom. It includes fourteen adventures form history. Each journey that is discussed in the book has fold-out maps and diagrams to help the reader understand more details about the historical events. This is an exciting book that students would enjoy reading.
Feb 01, 2012
I learned stuff! While most of these stories are for familiar explorers (Columbus, Apollo 11, Leif Erikkson), the authors do a great job of exploring the ins and outs and whys of each journey. Each vignette gets its own fold out showing Stephen Biesty's amazing cross-section drawings.
Dec 05, 2011
So interesting and very well done. I loved the explanations, but also the fold out bits, complete with maps and processes and vessel cross-sections. It may be a bit long for some, but if a reader even reads just one of the explorations covered in this book, they will be enriched.
Oct 13, 2011
Just returned this one to the library - wonderful way to study the explorers. We especially enjoyed the removable maps, etc. it is a dynamic book for both kids and adults. Would love to add to our home library!
Dec 27, 2011
was informative as only a reminder that history is written by people and not always true
I wouldnt read it again there are many more comprehensive books on exploration and the truth of why it was done.
I wouldnt read it again there are many more comprehensive books on exploration and the truth of why it was done.
Dec 16, 2011
Fabulous! The fold-out maps and diagrams are incredible. This is a must for any fan of David Macauly, exploration, or fantastic illustrations.
Mar 31, 2011
I will come clean and say that I have not read this in-depth YET. However, upon close inspection, this appears to be a completely absorbing interactive book on explorers, some famous and others not so famous, and their most distinctive accomplishments. Fourteen journeys are depicted with cutaway illustrations and interesting foldout inserts. The cover itself is a folded over map of the world with each journey indicated by route. A book to take a child into various scientific disciplines; engagin
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