Uncommon Traveler: Mary Kingsley in Africa (Hardcover)

by Don Brown (Author) "In 1870, a small house stood on a lonely lane outside London, England..." (more)
Key Phrases: West Africa

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Brown (Alice Ramsey's Grand Adventure) again trolls feminist history for an engaging heroine, emerging this time with the redoubtable British explorer, Mary Kingsley. After a reclusive childhood spent dutifully nursing her mother and educating herself through books (she was never sent to school), Mary determines to see the world and sets off in 1892, at age 30, for the wilds of West Africa. Exploring the country in full proper Victorian dress ("It is at these times that you realize the blessings of a good thick skirt," she remarks after falling into a spike-filled pit and narrowly escaping injury), the plucky Mary collects insects and fish for the British Museum of Natural History. A series of piquant pen-and-ink and watercolor sketches shows her approaching a hippo, fending off a crocodile with her canoe paddle and wading "through sun-cooked swamps of ink-black slime." It's difficult to discern a chronology for Mary's adventures, but the vague sense of years of travel and adventure matches the artwork's appealingly impressionistic flurry of lines blurred with smoky color. Mary emerges as an intrepid and admirable character. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-The author of Ruth Law Thrills a Nation (Ticknor & Fields, 1993), Alice Ramsey's Grand Adventure (1997), and Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries (1999, both Houghton) brings another unsung female adventurer to light. Confined in a Victorian manse with bricked up windows, Kingsley spent her young years caring for her bedridden mother and awaiting the intermittent visits of her peripatetic father. Resourceful and independent, she escaped through the books she read in her father's library. Released from her servitude by her parents' death, the 30-year-old woman embarked on extended travels to Africa, where she found her spiritual home and felt a kinship with the native people. She returned to England to write and lecture on her observations. Brown's spare text, filled with perfectly chosen details, gives individuality to a universally appealing tale of a neglected child who eventually triumphs through her own spirit of independence. By incorporating quotes from his subject's writing, the author provides an accurate picture of her common sense, her sense of humor, of wonder, and of self. The sketchy watercolor illustrations accurately convey the dreariness of her childhood, but are less successful in portraying her travels. Dominant hues of gray, brown, green, and blue effectively evoke settings and transitions, but the details in the drawings are as disappointing as the ones in the text are delightful. The human figures are shadowy, with hollow eyes, stiff arms, and pallid complexions. It is unfortunate that the visuals don't support the beauty, excitement, and lushness that so enthralled Kingsley.
Starr LaTronica, Four County Library System, Vestal, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618002731
• ISBN-13: 978-0618002733
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #79,166 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #23 in	Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Exploration & Discovery
  #92 in	Books > Travel > Africa

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner by Don Brown, September 17, 2000

By A Customer

Don Brown, author and illustrator of "Uncommon Traveler," excels at the non-fiction picture book. In his newest, he's told and illustrated the tale of Mary Kingsley, a single woman who traveled Africa alone in the late 18OO's. He makes good use of lively quotes from her journals, and keeps the tale to just the liveliest parts--Mary swimming with hippos, canoing with crocodiles, and falling into animal traps. He also lets kids know about her lonely childhood, how she took care of her invalid mother, and of her freedom at 30 from family responsibilities--the time when her adventures began. This book is good for everyone, but would be particularly useful for teachers and libraries, interested in sharing non-fiction stories about adventurous girls. The art in the book is distinctive and the prose style clean and lively. I also enjoyed Don Brown's"Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries," about a girl-fossil hunter, one of the best fossil-hunters ever.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Who would have thought?, July 29, 2001

By	Ed Gibbon www.congocookbook.com (Washington DC) - See all my reviews

Those who know Mary Kingsley probably never thought there would be a children's book about her, but why not? Her classic "Travels in West Africa" is still in print after over 100 years, and deservedly so (please see my review). This is a fine book for children, especially because its true-life Victorian heroine did something that most modern people wouldn't do, i.e., she traveled, on her own, though mostly unexplored Africa (Gabon to be precise), and afterwards became a very popular writer and speaker. Hopefully children who read this will someday go on to read Kingsley in her own words. [One small note: terminology has changed a bit, by "West Africa" Kingsley refers to what we would today call the Atlantic coast region of Central Africa.]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book, September 22, 2005

By	Ash-Crash "Ashli" (Corbin, Ky.) - See all my reviews

The Uncommon Traveler was written and illustrated by Don Brown. Don Brown was a professional illustrator. According to the School Library Journal, they called him " a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." Don Brown's first book was RUTH LAW THRILLS A NATION.
This book is a non-fiction picture book, as well as a historical realism. This book is set in the past, an event, which is Mary's exploration of Africa. This book explains Mary Kingsley's childhood that gives her the courage and motivation for her travels to Africa. Mary is a heroic woman, who shows her strength throughout the book. This book describes her adventures in Africa, which she traveled alone and not listening to the warnings from others. This books also shows that dreams do come true and that you can
achieve your dreams, no matter what obstacles that you come across.
While growing up, Mary never attended school or never played with other children. Even though, Mary was alone, she was still happy. Mary mentioned, "I had a great, amusing world of my own: the books in Father's Library." These books as mentioned in the book were her companions and teachers, since she was housebound. At the age of thirty, Mary was free from her duties, when her parents passed away. Growing up, Mary had read books about her father's adventures and inspired by her father's journeys, and the books that she had read, Mary wanted to travel to Africa.