This amazing book chronicles the life of African American explorer Matthew Henson. Young children will be captivated by this fantastic account of Henson’s adventures.

This book is about the life and accomplishments of Matthew Henson. It is beautifully illustrated. The only issue is that it is pretty long so if I did a read aloud I would only read sections of it. Biography ( )

REVIEW:
Matthew Henson, an African-American born in Maryland in 1866, was part of Robert Peary's expedition in the early 1900s that discovered the North Pole. This book begins with Matthew's childhood. Despite not having as many opportunities as privileged white citizens because he was in a poor African American family, Matthew was determined to explore the world. He set sail on the ship, Katie Hines, with Captain Childs, and learned how to be a master sailor. Afterwards, he joined Peary's expedition and met the native Inuits. He learned their language,as well as learned survival skills to cope in the brutal environment. On March 1, 1909, the team set out to explore the furthest point on the North Pole. They faced many challenges on the way, as described in the book, such as Matthew falling into the frigid waters, but on April 6, 1909, they successfully placed their flags on the northern most part of the North Pole.

I love how this book includes actual notes that Matthew Henson recorded in his journals. One the expedition part of the book starts, every page includes an except from his journals that relates to the place in the story. This adds depth, making this biography more detailed and real. The pictures, which are giclee prints of original drawings that are hand-tinted in watercolor, are beautifully done. They utilize various lines and curves, as well as light-colored hues, creating an adventurous and intriguing tone. At the end of the story, the author includes further biographical information about Matthew Henson, as well as a timeline and pictures.

MEDIA: giclee prints of original drawings that are hand-tinted in watercolor

GENRE: Biography
This is a biography because it tells the story of Matthew Henson from a perspective other than his own. The addition of his actual notes and observations, however, makes this a great biography.

USES:
(1) I could use this book in a lesson/unit about explorers.
(2)

AGE-APPROPRIATNESS: upper elementary ( )

Great book - explorers, black history month - writing narratives
Famous Black American,

I admit to knowing who Matt Henson was prior to reading this. I knew that he was instrumental to the Peary expeditions to reach the North Pole, probably more responsible for them getting there than Peary was, but I still liked this book a lot. The illustrations were probably the most difficult piece to grasp for me. The book was a lively, wild disarray that I found captivating, even when it was a bit confusing. The Henson quotes that ran as footnotes throughout were nice, though I didn't quite get the context of them at times. The end notes were brilliant. Hopkinson obviously went to great lengths to research her subject. Henson's story has the potential to be very discouraging, but Hopkinson instead decided to focus on giving credit where it was due and writing a story that glorified Henson's accomplishments rather than dwelling on how unappreciated he was when he returned to civilian life. She told the whole story in the end notes, but for the body of the text she chose to focus on writing him into the hero that he was. Children don't need to be depressed by the obstacles of their heroes all the time. They need the whole story, but first they need to appreciate the finer qualities of the person they are coming to know. They need to be convinced to care, and Matthew Henson certainly was the right character to do that. Hopkinson did a masterful job, as she tends to do regularly, and this is a fine children's biography. ( )