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.

Antarctic Book Review: Animals Robert Scott Saw: An Adventure in Antarctica by Sandra Markle

Animals Robert Scott Saw: An Adventure in Antarctica by Sandra Markle is an informational and biographical picture book appropriate for grades 3 to 5. This book discusses the history of Robert Falcon Scott’s expeditions to Antarctica in the early 1900s with a focus on the animals he saw and used. Photo, sketches, and watercolors fill the pages to illustrate the animals and expeditions’ experiences.

Animals Robert Scott Saw: An Adventure in Antarctica may be useful for engaging students with a naturalistic learning preference into the historical topic of Robert Falcon Scott and early exploration in Antarctica. Additionally, it is a good resource for both social studies and science curriculum use, as it is actually specifically designed to meet key concepts outlined by the National Council for the Social Studies and National Academy of Sciences (p. 6).

Antarctic Book Review: Little Penguin: The Emperor of Antarctica by Jonathan London

Little Penguin: The Emperor of Antarctica by Jonathan London is an informational picture book that provides a brief story about an emperor penguin’s life from coming out of his egg to being a dad carrying the egg through the winter himself. This book provides K to 2 learners with an introduction to emperor penguins with text that is appropriate for their reading level and appealing realistic watercolor pictures that work with the text to enhance the story.

Antarctic Book Review: Antarctica Journey to the Pole by Peter Lerangis

Antarctica: Journey to the Pole by Peter Lerangis is a historical fiction novel for grades 4 to 5.  In this novel two teenage boys are among the crew for a 1909 American expedition led by their father. The expedition is attempting to be the first to reach the South Pole and features references to real Antarctic explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

This book could be an interesting multicultural education literature selection, as it includes a main character that is Inuit briefly dealing with racism and a Greek dog handler that speaks broken English. Thus, this book might be something that English language learners may relate to.

The book also has content that could lead to discussions that are relevant to issues the students might be going through or relate to. For example, the two teenage boys are stepbrothers who have both lost their moms, so it could be useful for discussing loss. There are also some scenes of the younger boy being mocked, which could be used to spark discussion on bullying.

Antarctic Book Review: Menorah Under the Sea by Esther Susan Heller

Menorah Under the Sea by Esther Susan Heller is an informational picture book about a modern day marine ecologist celebrating Hanukkah by making a menorah out of sea urchins during a dive in Antarctica and later lighting a travel menorah to celebrate at McMurdo with other Jewish researchers. This is a good multicultural book for grades K to 2. This book also provides a brief introduction to diving in Antarctica and what questions researchers are trying to answer about sea urchins.

Antarctic Book Review: Here is Antarctica by Madeleine Dunphy

Here is Antarctica by Madeleine Dunphy is a poetic picture book that introduces how the animals and ice are interconnected in the Antarctic ecosystem. This book is appropriate for grades K to 2. This book is a good one for learners that enjoy repeating text, as it slowly adds a new line before it repeats the previously introduced lines. This feature also makes it a good book for early readers. This book was also selected for the 2010 Nautilus Book Award for Children’s Picture Books (Preschool-Grade 2).

Antarctic Book Review: Ice Wreck by Lucille Recht Penner

Ice Wreck by Lucille Recht Penner is an illustrated chapter book about Shackleton’s Endurance expedition. This book is appropriate for grades K to 2. This book is an easy read about Shackleton’s expedition for the lower grades as well as for reluctant or struggling readers. This book is also more visually appealing for those that want a more colorful representation of the expedition instead of just the historic black and white photos from the expedition (some of these are still included).

Antarctic Book Review: Can You Survive Antarctica? by Rachel Teresa Hanel

Can You Survive Antarctica?: An Interactive Survival Adventure by Rachel Teresa Hanel is a choose your own adventure style book.  It is both historical fiction and contemporary realistic fiction with options to be an adventurer in the race to the South Pole in 1911-12, part of the first team of women crossing Antarctica in the 1990s, or work with modern day researchers in Antarctica. The book contains historical and modern photos of the actual expeditions, animals, and bases, which can make the book more appealing for reluctant readers as well as visual learners. This book is appropriate for grades 3 to 5. This book is useful for helping students learn about survival in Antarctica, especially how it continues to be dangerous in modern times. It also also encourages critical thinking skills through allowing students to make choices about what to do next.

Antarctic Book Review: A for Antarctica by Jonathan Chester

A for Antarctica by Jonathan Chester is an informational picture book that features a few short blurbs about topics related to Antarctica that start with each letter of the alphabet. This book is appropriate for grades K to 2. Photographs accompany the topics making it visually engaging as well as help further understanding of what exactly the item is, such as the difference between what a regular compass looks like and a sun compass. While this book is slightly dated with its inclusion of dogs (now banned from the continent and book makes it seem they live there), it is still a good introduction to the continent with its coverage of animals, gear used, and research activities that go on in Antarctica. This book is useful for introducing learners to the continent in an appealing alphabet book format that might encourage them to learn more through other resources made available to them.

Antarctic Book Review: Life Under Ice by Mary M. Cerullo

Life Under Ice by Mary M. Cerullo is a picture book that provides a brief overview of the animals and climate of Antarctica with the main focus being on the life under the ice. The book also provides some insight on how scientists work in Antarctica, especially the divers. This book is geared towards grades 3 to 5. The use of photography alongside descriptive text is the main highlight of the book. Having the photographs of actual Antarctic life makes this book more appealing to visual learners as well as those that may be weaker readers while the descriptive text provides similar fulfillment for learners that are more linguistically inclined. For example, when discussing how penguins warm themselves by turning their black backs to the sun and cool themselves by turning their white fronts to the sun there are two full page photos that are a great example of them warming themselves in one and cooling themselves in the other.