Voyages of Christopher Columbus

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-- Although most pictorial accounts of Columbus's voyages include drawings of important events to attract the interest of younger readers, this book enlivens history with full-color photos of actors, costumes, and events of the period set against a staged historical or natural backdrop. Every double-page spread is dominated by the well-captioned photos, but there is also a brief but informative text superimposed on the pictures that provides essential facts about the four voyages. A short section on important primary sources, several reproductions of original drawings of historical documents, and a map of Columbus's world are also included. This volume will serve nicely as an introductory source to Columbus, including the where and why of his voyages, the crew, life on board the ships, and the Taino people. For more in-depth coverage of the voyages themselves, the Yues' Christopher Columbus (Houghton, 1992) is an excellent account, with detailed drawings about shipbuilding and ships, navigational tools, and the daily life of the crew. For a more complete explanation of how historians found out about Columbus, Pelta's Discovering Christopher Columbus (Lerner, 1991) is one of the best books for this age level recently published. --Phyllis Graves, Creekwood Middle School, Kingwood, TX