Antarctic Book Review: The Mystery in Icy Antarctica: The Frozen Continent by Carole Marsh

The Mystery in Icy Antarctica: The Frozen Continent by Carole Marsh is a contemporary realistic fiction book. In this book a girl age 10 and a boy age 7 visit McMurdo Station in Antarctica with their grandparents. This book is appropriate for grades 3 to 5. This book is good for drawing in young readers to learn a little about what life is like at a modern Antarctic research station from main characters that are around the same age as the target audience. The book is particularly good for reluctant readers or those just starting to read chapter books, as it has illustrations that can make the reading experience more fun. In particular, the use of sound words being done illustratively can add to the excitement and draw the reader’s attention more into the story, such as when the ice is cracking and an illustration says CRAACK! with crack lines around it (p. 5). This book also involves a mystery of disappearing penguins, which might help readers in grades 3 to 5 be “challenged to use their mental ability to seek solutions to problems” (Travers & Travers, 2008, p. 254). The built-in book club sections at the back of the book are also useful for encouraging thoughtful discussion of the book and learning more about Antarctica.


 

Travers, B. E., & Travers, J. F.  (2008). Children’s literature: A developmental perspective (1st ed.).  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.