Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.