Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole [Hardcover]

Deborah Hopkinson (Author), Stephen Alcorn (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009 | Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up

A riveting account of African-American explorer Matthew Henson s 1909 journey to the North Pole with Admiral Peary Many know the story of Robert Peary s great 1909 expedition to reach the North Pole. Yet few people know that Peary was joined on this grueling, history-making journey by fellow explorer Matthew Henson.

Henson was born just after the Civil War, a time when slavery had been abolished, but few opportunities were available for black people. Even as a child, he exhibited a yearning for adventure, and at the age of only thirteen, he embarked on a five-year voyage sailing the seven seas and learning navigation, history, and mathematics.
Henson s greatest adventure began when he accepted an invitation by Robert Peary to join his expedition to the North Pole. The team endured storms, shifting ice, wind, injuries, accidents, and unimaginable cold. Finally on April 1, Peary, Henson, and four Inuit men began the final 133-mile push to the Pole.

Readers will share in the excitement and drama of this remarkable, history-making adventure as award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson pays tribute to a great but under recognized figure from America s past. Illustrator Stephen Alcorn s large-format, stylized ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture all the action. Excerpts from Henson s expedition diaries, a timeline, and an epilogue place the story in its historical context.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hopkinson's (Sweet Land of Liberty) tribute to Matthew Henson, the African-American explorer credited as being the co-discoverer (along with Admiral Robert Peary) of the North Pole in 1909, retells a story gaining traction among picture-book publishers, adding a few welcome embellishments. Henson's own descriptions of the pristine landscape and the Inuit people, who teach him about the harsh, cold north, are peppered throughout Hopkinson's sturdy prose, while Alcorn's (Yours for Justice, Ida B. Wells) characteristically stylized illustrations range from images of classic Americana to organic figures in motion against collage-like backdrops of wild weather. In one detail, sled dogs run skyward, like Santa's reindeer, past what we can assume to be northern lights; elsewhere, wind gusts against the explorers in curling, curving lines. Though Henson emerges as idealized, Hopkinson's description of him as experienced, resourceful, brave comes across as well deserved. Ages 6–10. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

This picture book tells the story of Matthew Henson, African American explorer. Working aboard a ship for several years around 1880, the young Henson learned many skills that would be useful years later, when he joined explorer Robert Peary on several Arctic expeditions. After enduring hardships, dangers, and several failed attempts, Peary and Henson, accompanied by four Inuit men, reached the vicinity of the North Pole in 1909. The main text conveys a good bit of information within a clearly written narrative that includes one dramatic rescue scene during the final expedition. Large in scale and often handsome, the broad, double-page drawings are enhanced with symbolic and decorative elements and tinted with washes. The heroic imagery in the pictures sometimes seems to lessen the explorers’ humanity, while the large-print quotes from Henson’s Negro Explorer at the North Pole (1912), which appear on many double-page spreads, have the opposite effect. A historical note, a time line, and a brief list of sources are appended. Grades 1-4. --Carolyn Phelan

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 36 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561454737
• ISBN-13: 978-1561454730
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 11.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #85 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Polar Regions

More About the Author

Deborah Hopkinson is the award-winning of picture books, fiction, and nonfiction for young readers. She has won the SCBWI Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Text twice, for A Band of Angels and Apples to Oregon. Her book, Sky Boys, How They Built the Empire State Building, was a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor awardee. Her recent works include Michelle, First Family, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, an ALA Notable, Keep On! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole, which won a 2009 Oregon Book Award, and Stagecoach Sal, named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009. She serves as Vice President for Advancement at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Award-winning artist Deborah Hopkinson brings to life this stirring, little-known saga of a born explorer, May 18, 2009

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole (Hardcover)

Keep On! The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole is a picturebook biography of intrepid African-American explorer Matthew Henson, who is often overlooked even though he discovered the North Pole along with the more famous Admiral Robert Peary. Matthew Henson was the most valuable member of Peary's team; he repaired equipment, hunted, traded with and learned from the Inuit. After an eighteen year odyssey he and Peary were the first to stand at the top of the world; yet due to the racial climate of the era, only Peary was widely remembered and credited for the achievement. Award-winning artist Deborah Hopkinson brings to life this stirring, little-known saga of a born explorer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Glorious book, but told in free verse, August 16, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keep On!: The Story of Matthew Henson, Co-Discoverer of the North Pole (Hardcover)

This book is well-produced: the size is large, the illustrations are clear, and the quality of the paper is heavy and rich. This book is a pleasure to hold and to read. In fact, it is such a LOVELY book that I am overlooking my usual distaste for free verse.

The book gives a good biography of young Matthew Henson, and then showcases his contributions to Peary's arctic exploration. Deborah Hopkinson gives us a Matthew Henson who is instrumental to the success of the expedition, completely likable, and brilliant at getting the work done. Many outtakes from Henson's own book are included. Amazingly, this explorer (a black man!) could write in standard English and did NOT resort to free verse. Can you imagine?

Our kids deserve to read beautiful books that also give them a feel for written English sentence structure. Please, publishers and authors, give us sentences and paragraphs.

Excellent illustrations grace this book and pull your child's eyes into the story. Check out the biographical information and timeline at the end of the book.