Christopher Columbus [Paperback]

Ann McGovern (Author), James Watling (Illustrator)

Book Description

Columbus's early sea adventures, his life in Lisbon, his successes and disappointments are written with verve and zest and make this historical figure really live. A new epilogue explores the recent controversy about Columbus.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Columbus kept a diary, or log, of the voyage. Each day, he wrote how far he had sailed, what he had seen, and what had happened.

On the third day at sea the rudder of the Pinta broke loose. They had to stop at one of the Canary Islands for repairs.

On September 6, the men saw fire and smoke rising from the top of a tall mountain. They were so frightened, they wanted to turn back at once. In a calm voice, Columbus told them that this was a volcano. He told them there was nothing to fear.

By September 9, they had sailed out of sight of land. For days they sailed. For weeks they sailed.

Never before had they sailed so long without seeing land.

Most of the men were afraid.

"Turn back," they begged Columbus. "Turn back before the sea dragons eat us."

But Columbus was not afraid. He knew there were no sea dragons.

He tried to cheer up the sailors. He told them of the gold that would soon belong to them. He told them the king would give a lot of money to the first man who saw land.

But the men muttered and grumbled. The men grumbled when the wind blew too hard. They grumbled when there was no wind at all. And they grumbled about the weeds they saw in the sea.

"Many bunches of very green weed," Columbus wrote in his log on September 16.

Some of the men were afraid the ships would get stuck in the thick green and yellow weeds. Columbus said the ships would sail right through. And they did.

On the night of September 25, a shout came from the Pinta. "Land, Land, sir!" The reward is mine!"

The men climbed up the rigging. Everyone shouted that he saw land. Columbus fell to his knees and thanked God.

That night no one slept. But in the morning, there was no land.

What they had thought to be land was only a low cloud. Columbus wrote in his log: "What had supposed to be land was not, but sky."

That day the men were more angry than ever. They said, "There is not much drinking water left. We will die of thirst."

"Let's throw Columbus overboard."

"We could say he fell in."

Columbus heard the men plotting.

He told them, "Kill me if you like. But it will do you no good. The King and Queen will hang every last one of you if you come home without me."

Then he reminded them that the first man to sight land would get a reward. "And I myself will give a fine jacket of silk," he said.

But these words did not comfort the frightened sailors. They kept their knives handy. They were ready to kill.

Product Details

• Paperback: 60 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Trade; 1 edition (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590457659
• ISBN-13: 978-0590457651
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,475,411 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great story, October 21, 2010

By 

loveamerica - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Christopher Columbus (Paperback)

I like this book, and my students love it too. They don't make them like this anymore.