From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6?Three books with uninspired writing, infrequent but major errors, and limited information. The layouts feature double-page illustrations with blocks of text superimposed on them. There is almost no personal history provided for Amundsen, Columbus, or Cook; the focus is solely on their deeds, and coverage is no more interesting than a good encyclopedia article and certainly not as complete. The artwork ranges from poor (in Amundsen) to good (in Cook and Columbus). Most pages include a "Did you know?" inset that describes related topics (e.g., aurora borealis, seal hunting, slavery). Except in Columbus, maps are inadequate?in number as well as in detail?to allow youngsters to put the geography in perspective. Two errors are jarring?Columbus gives the distance from Portugal to Japan as "12,4000" miles, and Cook describes an illustration of a typical ship as being from "Columbus's time" rather than Cook's.?Rosie Peasley, Empire Union School District, Modesto, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
