Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 4^-8. With several more detailed books about Shackleton's Imperial Transatlantic Expedition available (including Armstrong's own 1998 Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World), the question is do we really need another? If the text for this one hadn't been so clear, the answer would have been no. But this coffee-table size book provides an excellent outline of the extraordinary expedition, even injecting some anecdotal material along the way that will whet appetites for more about one of history's great survival stories. William Maughan's large paintings, both dramatic and impressive, will show up well in a small-group situation, but it's Frank Hurley's photos, taken during the expedition (several of which are also included here--many more are in Armstrong's other book), that are, in the end, the most fascinating. --Stephanie Zvirin
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This distillation of Armstrong's Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World into picture book format masterfully foreshortens the key events of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition aboard the Endurance to Antarctica. Trapped in pack ice in January 1915, Shackleton and his crew survived for nearly a year in the frozen polar wasteland, then traveled 100 miles by open lifeboat to an uninhabited islet. Shackleton and a handpicked team sailed a further 800 miles "across the stormiest ocean in the world, facing 100-foot waves, bitter temperatures, and hurricane-force winds," then trekked across the uncharted mountains and glaciers of South Georgia Island to a whaling station. After several attempts, Shackleton took a Chilean steamer back to the islet and saved every member of his crew. Although the opening is a bit abrupt, Armstrong's account of these astonishing feats of fortitude ripples with drama. Only those who have read her longer version of the events will miss the copious quotes that capture the voices of the men and the colorful anecdotes (e.g., Hussey's banjo serenades) she brings so vividly to life in Shipwreck. The book's oversize format hints at the scope of Shackleton's larger-than-life adventure and provides a generous frame for an ample supply of maps, original photographs (including the famous shot of the ice-bound Endurance, her hull and rigging covered with a ghostly white frost) and Maughan's panoramic, wide-view paintings. The paintings cannot rival the intrinsic fascination of the photographs, but they are atmospheric and imposingly scaled. Their imaginations stirred, many readers will want to tackle her earlier volume for more of the story. Ages 8-10. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Written for a younger audience than Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World (Crown, 1998), this book takes readers into the Antarctic ice pack with Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance. The slender, oversized format is enhanced by numerous black-and-white and sepia-toned photos taken on that ill-fated expedition, a map, plans of the Endurance, and a number of dramatic paintings. The robust prose is geared to the needs of the intended audience and is often superimposed on Maughan's large illustrations. This attractive, colorful work is comparable in reading level to K. M. Kostyal's powerful Trial by Ice (National Geographic, 1999), and presents a good picture of human survival under almost unimaginable conditions.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Aimed at a younger audience than the author's previous book about Shackleton's 1914 expedition, [cf2]Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World,[cf1] this volume briefly recounts the story of the ship that was trapped in Antarctic ice for over a year and Shackleton's heroic attempts to save his crew. The oversized pages display expedition photographs and Maughan's icy-blue artwork to good effect. A time line is included. Bib., ind. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Here Armstrong, author of the award-winning Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: Shackleton's Amazing Voyage (1998) captains an oversized, picture-story version, matching an economical retelling of the ill-fated expedition's course to a grand array of maps, journal pages, and dramatic documentary photos. This is capped by Maughan's even more dramatic paintings as, working on canvas, the artist depicts small, exhausted-looking human figures struggling through huge, dim, utterly inhospitable Antarctic land- and seascapes. Even more than Michael McCurdy's Trapped by the Ice! Shackleton's Amazing Antarctic Adventure (1997), this will have young readers marveling that anyone could survive such conditions, and will leave them appreciating that even failure can be glorious. (Shackleton meant to cross the continent, but never even reached the mainland before the ice crushed his ship.) The expedition's trek, through some of the worst weather in the world to a place where rescue could reach them, makes compelling reading at any length. (timeline, index, crew list, brief list of further resources) (Nonfiction, 9-11) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
