ANIMALS ROBERT SCOTT SAW

Robert Scott made two famous expeditions to Antarctica at the beginning of the 20th century in his unsuccessful efforts to reach the South Pole. This intriguing book takes a new approach to describing these journeys, adding information about the animals he and his companions encountered and used. Chronologically organized, each double-page spread takes on a single topic, with text on a textured background accompanied by paintings emphasizing the icy surroundings. Faux taped-on notes and illustrations, including documentary photographs and Dr. Edward Wilson’s bird paintings from the expeditions, add to the scrapbook effect. The author of numerous informational books, Markle brings her own experience of two voyages to Antarctica and adds suggestions for further reading and web exploration. Along with her Animals Christopher Columbus Saw, illustrated by Jamel Akib (ISBN: 978-0-8118-4916-6), this is part of the new Explorers series, which emphasizes the exploring human’s connection to the animal world—the roles that animals have played in spurring and facilitating or hindering voyages of discovery and the creatures the explorers may have encountered along the way. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)