Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong

Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong is nonfiction informational book geared towards grades 3 and up.  The purpose of the book is to tell the story of Shackleton's 1914-1916 Endurance expedition.  The book also provides some good introductory information about Antarctica as it explains some aspects of the continent's history, climate, and geography in depth to provide a more complete understanding of the struggles the expedition faced and highlight how significant their accomplishments were for the time.  The book reprints some of the actual photographs taken during the expedition expedition to help make the story come to life visually for the readers.  This book has won several awards and honors including the 1999 Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction.