Customer Reviews

Tierra del Fuego: A Journey to the End of the Earth

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

. . .says School Library Journal. And it is that. A real treat
for young readers who love adventure and exploring. There's
a mix of history, adventure, "crisp" (as Booklist says) photos,
and information told in a voice that is clear and true. The
author's fascination and excitement of exploring this land
on a mountain bike comes through, and he's able to bring the
reader along. Maps are a great addition. Get this book into the hands of any young explorer.

Peter Lourie is about the best non-fiction writer that I have ever had the pleasure to meet. Joshua Slocum was a funny sailor who sailed alone. One time Joshua was getting attacked by pirates he made a dummy out of his clothes at the front of the ship. Then he went into his room and changed clothes many times to make it seem like there were different people coming out. Then just before the pirates came on his ship, he put thumbtacks on the deck and the pirates stepped on them so they jumped back in their ship and went away. Ferdinand Magellan was the first to sail down what is now know as the Strait of Magellan and live. You see the waters are very choppy and there are lots of rocks in the Strait of Magellan. They named the strait after him because he was the first to sail down the strait and live. These are just some out of the many interesting facts in books by Peter Lourie.

Tierra Del Fuego is a book following the adventures of 16th century explorer, Ferdinand Magellan. Tierra Del Fuego is a region off the coast of South America, which is still inhabited by native tribes. From the vmassive farmlands to Penguin Island, Tierra Del Fuego is unlike Amewrica. This book is very informative but it is hard to comprehend. However, the pictures give incredible details which supports the facts. Peter Lourie creates a story that tops all the rest.

NS

This is a very knowledgeable and educational adventure. In this book Peter Lourie takes you on a ride of the region of Terria del Fuego. This book tells you of many wonderful islands with animals like Peguin Island and Seal Island. I think you should read this book to learn more and appreciate the beautiful pictures of the flowers and Islands.

By: D.B.

Tierra del Fuego
I like the pictures and the essential facts about the pictures, but some parts were too complicated and I couldn't truly understand what Peter Lourie was trying to tell us altogether. Overall I'd give this book four stars because it was hard to understand, but the pictures and unusual facts made up for that. I also thought the islands were authoritative and how the animals there adapted to those environments was an adequate addition to the storyline. This book was a great experience and Peter Lourie must have put a lot of effort into this book.
(...)

This book is about Native Americans that live where the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean meet. This place Tierra del Fuego has really bad storms. This was hard for sailors who explored all around the world, like Magellan. Finally in the 1900's the Americans built the Panama Canal. These meant sailors didn't have to sail all the way to the bottom of the world. The most interesting fact in the book is about Joshua Slocum. He sailed all the way around the world, by himself; He fought off big storms, stopped ambushes by the natives, and most off all fought off killer pirates. He did all those things, by himself.


My opinion is that this book was great. It had many different interesting facts. I would recommend this book to anyone, who enjoys a good read. The pictures that Peter Lourie took are amazing.

This is an awesome book. I felt like I was journeying to the ends of the earth with Peter Lourie. This guy has a talent for putting you right in the place he's writing about. His photos are vivid and eye catching. I've got a 4th grade nephew who will love this book for his birthday. If you know a kid that enjoys history, exploration and interesting nonfiction, buy this book!

It is not surprising that this would be considered a childrens's book, nor surprising that it would quickly remaindered, as they say in the trade. It is for those for whom a pretty picture is an adequate substitute for substance. And in fact most of the photos are the same as those stock historical shots used previously in the other principal works that cover this part of the world -- simply nothing new, nothing to justify reprinting in yet another little book. As far as the author's own photos, it appears that he took the equivalent of just one roll of film, albeit well exposed. It also looks at though he traveled no more than a few miles along the southern shore of the largest island in South America, missing the heart of the interior and the other shores entirely. Instead of describing the mountain ranges by their proper names and covering the associated history (such as the Darwin Range) he simply calls them "the Andes." Pages that could have been used to cover Tierra del Fuego itself are squandered on the Chilean city across the straits, where it appears that the writer got stuck before finally getting to the island. Of the very little that is covered of Tierra del Fuego, we see the Argentine side of the island, with scarcely a word and nary a photo of the extensive Chilean portion. We see a little of an estancia called Harberton (why? because an American woman settled there?) and the Argentine town of Ushuaia, but nothing of the other towns, of Porvenir and Cerro Castillo, and Río Grande, nor the major estancias of María Behety and José Menéndez and dozens of others, nor the remains of the gold mining sites, one of which is a Chilean National Monument (it appears that the author did not visit the Chilean side of the island at all). This book is a monumental disappointment: brief, shallow, and inconsequential, a tribute to missed opportunities, perhaps the most vacuous book ever published on this subject. It short-changes young readers who might otherwise have been exposed to substantial, balanced, and interesting coverage of an extensive and fascinating part of the world.