Sailing the Unknown: Around the World with Captain Hook

Sailing the Unknown: Around the World with Captain Cook
by Michael J. Rosen, illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
Creative Editions, 2012. Unpaged. Nonfiction.

The youngest known sailor on Captain Cook's 1768 was one Nicholas Young, and eleven year old who cared for the ship's nanny goat, Navy, and who was the first to sight the land of New Zealand, and have a headland named for him--Young Nick's Head. In Sailing the Unknown. . . Michael Rosen invents a diary for Nick with widely spaced entries to give his young readers an overview of Captain Cook's two year and ten month voyage. Maria Pritelli's pictures beautifully illustrate Nick's terse but revealing writings, and the overall effect of the book is to make one want to know more. A couple of quibbles--when the Endeavour reaches the land that will come to be known as New Zealand, Nick's entry records that Maoris threw spears at the landing party. Probably the sailors did not know the name of the native peoples at this point. That aside, this is a fine introduction to the early days of exploration by a young man who looks a little bit like an 18th century Tintin.

Comments

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...

Review: The Library in the Woods

The Library in the Woods Written by Calvin Alexander Ramsey Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie Minneapolis, MN : Carolrhoda Books, 2025. Picture Book. I am always intrigued by picture books that tell stories from the past in beautiful and meaningful ways, leaving the reader educated, and also hopeful and inspired. This book definitely did that for me! The cover is a beautiful peek into the story waiting on the pages. Junior and his family have lived on a farm that is having a hard time producing what it needs to for the family to survive economically. The parents make the hard decision to move away from the farm and into the city. Junior misses a lot of things about his life in the country. However, when Junior's friends tell him about a library in the woods, things change for him in the best way! He is amazed by the seemingly endless collection of books, and is eager to check some out for his family. Junior excitedly borrows a few books, including one about a farmer for his dad ...

Review: Tumblebaby

Tumblebaby Written by Adam Rex Illustrated by Audrey Helen Weber New York : Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2024. Picture book. I love a funky picture book. Slumbering Tumblebaby rolls out the door and into a wonderfully meandering yarn, thwarting scoundrels and coyotes, scaling unclimbable mountains, and even building a community center in Colorado City. Adam Rex's text reads like a folksy tall tale, punctuated by funny lines and rhyming chants. Weber's colorful, round illustrations feel a little Fauvist, a little cubist. It's a sort of "Oh, The Places You'll Go!" but in reverse - we learn in the last few pages that, in fact, that baby was YOU! This revelation made my young son gasp, which made me choke up. Tumblebaby is a surreal delight perfect for reading together.

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog