For those brave enough, a thrilling around the world adventure awaits…
Earth is full of extreme places; the freezing plains of the Arctic, the scorching heat of the Arabian desert, the barren landscape of the Australian outback, the fertile wilds of the Amazon rainforest. Plants and animal have learnt how to thrive in all manner of extreme habitats but for humans such places can be life-threatening if you don’t know what you are doing. That doesn’t mean you should never go exploring though, with the right knowledge, skills and equipment… you can survive anywhere…
Ben Lerwill is a multi-award-winning travel writer so he knows his stuff when it comes to creating books about places. The locations in this book though are far from your average travel destinations, this is the adventurers ultimate guide to familiarising themselves with and surviving in eleven of the most challenging and inhospitable environments on the planet (and one in space).
Each place is presented over two or three double pages that are packed with information and facts. Illustrations, lists, fact-files, captions, diagrams, top tips, how to guides and true stories are all utilised, giving readers the opportunity to fully understand why such places are classed as extreme. The consistent use of many presentation features throughout means it is easy to make comparisons between the different locations and these could easily be used as a scaffold for children to present some of their own geographical work after researching an extreme place.
From first page to last, Lerwill’s enthusiasm for his subject matter shines through and his accessible and insightful words are superb. Artist Daniel Long brings this adventure of a lifetime to life with his beautifully presented and colourful artwork. Long has thought of everything to really engage the reader; a map marked with pins and a route with corresponding page numbers for each location shows readers the way and an introductory note is attached to a hiking map that is held between a pair of gloved hands. The sense of adventure and exploration is everywhere within these pages be it through text or artwork.
I particularly love that the book finishes with a look to the future and how our survival skills may adapt as the planet changes and the population grows. How do you feel about eating insects for lunch? What about living on a floating city? Or maybe you fancy relocating to a new planet altogether…Mars anyone? There are plenty of opportunities for discussion here; how we can live more sustainably, our duty of care to the planet, how we can protect precious and delicate ecosystems, climate change. This is everything a non-fiction book should be - fun, informative, accessible, engaging and full of practical advice that can be used and may just help you survive. It is a brilliant read and one that adventurous young children and future explorers will not want to miss out on. Now that I’ve finished telling you all about it I’m off in search of ice to perfect my igloo building skills and then some sunlight to practice how to calculate the sunset using just my hands. With huge thanks to Allen & Unwin and Nosy Crow for the copy I received in exchange for an honest review. Recommended for 7+.
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