Epic Fails: The Age of Exploration: Totally Getting Lost by Erik Slader and Ben Thompson, 148 pages. Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan), 2019. $17.
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Moving chronologically through global exploration and focusing primarily on early water travel, this is the story of all the ways famous explorers erred. Starting with the Vikings and their treks based out of Greenland, and ending with Dr. Livingston’s obsession over finding the mouth of the Nile River in Africa, this book covers 10 different expeditions and their leaders.
It seems that the authors did not have to work too hard to find the errors of early explorers and this is complex because one purpose of this series is to show that mistakes are a part of learning and growing, but on the flip side we certainly do not want to excuse or explain away the oppression and cruelty of many early explorers. The book really did not address this duality and read more like a history book.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
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