Meet Christopher Columbus

Step-Up Books

by James Tertius de Kay

When Christopher Columbus was young, he worked for his father making cloth. But he did not want to be a cloth-maker all his life. He
wanted to see new lands and have adventures. He wanted to be a sailor! By the time he was 25, Christopher had sailed to France, Africa, and Greece. He had seen strange cities and had many adventures. But his greatest adventure would come when he set out for China and found a whole new world instead.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Chapter Books, School, Childrens

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

James Tertius deKay is also the author of Monitor: The Story of the Legendary Civil War Ironclad and the Man Whose Invention Changed the Course of History and Chronicles of the Frigate Macedonian. He lives in Stonington, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Vertrees]

The chapters are short, and the story is interesting enough to hold my 7 yo attention. The pictures in the chapters also help bring the story to life.

[Charlie]

We read this short little book while we were traveling. It was obviously written for children. I learned many things about Christopher Columbus and enjoyed the book.

[Victoria (hotcocoaandbooks)]

This is a typical tale of Mr. Columbus.
It does talk about the mishaps of the man in regards to his exploration mistakes while being as prideful as he is. It does talk about his abandoning his child and leaving them to monks to raise after his wife died. It does say that he had some "Indians" with him. It does not talk of him in much of a negative manner to keep neutrality, but really, this man was conceited, prideful, and treacherous. I liked "Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus?" by Jean Fritz a million times better because she told the story of Columbus honestly, sarcastically, and historically. This one beat around the bush. I read this to my sons, but they were bored by it. Read the other book I mentioned. It is much better.

[Tanya]

It's funny, because what I remember best about this Step-Up book was not specifically about Columbus. Reading this book was the first time I learned about Isabella of Castille, the queen who financed his voyage, and I was fascinated by her, probably because there was an illustration of her in a voluminous ruffled dress, and I loved the idea of this glamorous powerful Spanish woman being the one who sent Columbus off on his voyage. I also learned - and have never forgotten - the names of his three ships from this book. The Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria. It's amazing what things stand out in our memories after a lifetime!

[Carolyne]

what i learned from this book that i never knew before was that Christopher Columbus was a cloth maker and he was working for his father. Christopher Columbus didnt want to be a cloth maker. So he sailed to france, africa and greece. after all the sailing to different counrys he found a new land.

[Johannes Kristian]

I really liked it. I like the size of the letters and wordage. It tells the story of Christopher Columbus in a picture book style but gives a considerable amount more information than a picture book!

[Emily]

Read with my 7 year old who is fascinated with non-fiction books. It was interesting to learn more about Columbus.

[Nicole M. Hewitt]

Read as part of our homeschool curriculum.

[Jaeger Matthias]

i like it. its good for ANYONE who wants to know about columbus!!!

[M]

Great for a young reader. Story form helps facts and dates become real and interesting.

[Amanda Hopper]

Really well done for young readers.

[Cathy aka The Attached Mama]

An easy to read biography on the life of Christopher Columbus.

[Angie]

Pretty good basic story of Christopher Columbus. I appreciated that it explained why Columbus called the native peoples he encountered "Indians," though I did feel like I had to reiterate that a couple of times for my children as each new set of indigenous people were Indians. Given that Columbus' Book of Prophesies had not been published in English until after this book was written, it is understandable that the only motivations the author gives us for Columbus' journeys were riches, gold, and fame.

As a side note, we really like the Step-Up Books for their level of writing that is just right for middle to upper elementary.

[Clarissa]

This was a foundation book for our unit on Columbus. Very easy to read. My youngest actually was the reader for this one. Nice background information and illustrations.

[Avery Denault]

Meet Christopher Columbus is about all the good things Columbus did.like finding the route between Spain and america.He also met many Indians mean and kind and they gave him presents like parrots, soft clothes, and wood.