From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-Ever wonder what a trip in a truck across frozen rivers beyond the Arctic Circle would be like? Turnbull describes his adventures accompanying Bill Rutherford, a produce merchant and long-distance trucker, on a trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Arctic villages of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk in the dead of winter. The book is full of interesting facts about their journey, which entails driving through the "Arctic desert" and across ice roads that are actually frozen rivers. A near-miss encounter with a moose prompts inset information on this animal. Tidbits about the Gold Rush add historical background to the trucker's route. Visually appealing maps, fact inserts, and full-color photographs appear throughout the fascinating text, and pertinent Web sites are appended. This book brings the history and geography of the Arctic and the world of long-distance truck driving to life. Children will be intrigued by the idea of trekking around the world; both By Truck to the North and its companion title, 52 Days by Camel (Annick, 1998), by Lawrie Raskin and Pearson, are fine titles to launch junior adventurers and/or reluctant readers into the excitement of reading.
Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AKCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 4^-6. Turnbull tagged along with an adventurous trucker named Bill on a trip from Vancouver to the Arctic Circle in an 18-wheeler. He relates the details of the exciting and often dangerous trip in this well-written, nicely illustrated account. Breaks in the narration come in the form of interesting sidebars and captioned photos, which cover everything from the history of some of the towns along the route and what children like about living in the Arctic to CB slang. Maps illustrated with small drawings and comments from Turnbull accompany each chapter, providing opportunity for follow-up map activities at home or in the classroom. In fact, the book touches on so many subjects that teachers can use it as a starting point for studies of the gold rushes of the 1800s, the northern lights, arctic weather, ghost towns, and more. Web sites on related topics are among resources appended.
Lauren Peterson
