Sophie Scott Goes South

Lester's 2005 journey to Antarctica's Mawson Station inspired this informative story of a fictional expedition, chronicled through the affable diary entries of a girl named Sophie. The nine-year-old accompanies her father, captain of an Australian icebreaker carrying scientists and supplies to this remote research center. Sophie's chatty account of life on board the ship reveals a flair for description: "The dining-room portholes go underwater every time the ship does a big roll. It's like we're eating inside a washing machine." Sophie also offers enthusiastic observations of the natural world, as she spots exotically shaped icebergs; penguins, seals, and whales; and the Southern Lights. Graphically, Lester (Noni the Pony) mixes it up, meshing factual illustrations (a cross-section view of the ship, a look at how icebergs are formed) and lighthearted images (the ship's crew pictured as cut-paper doll chains, penguins wearing bow ties). Photos of Lester's own Antarctica trip are incorporated throughout, along with pictures that children drew in response to e-mails she sent to schools and families about her voyage. Endpapers packed with historic, geographic, and scientific statistics provide additional info about the continent. Ages 6-9. (Nov.)

K-Gr 4--In this stimulating, well-integrated mixture of text and images, a fictional nine-year-old accompanies her dad, the captain of the Aurora Australis, as he delivers people and supplies to Mawson Station in Antarctica. Lester based the book on her own six-week excursion on the vessel. She combines sketches and paintings of Sophie-peeking out from her curtained berth or finding her way back to the station in a blizzard using rope-with rubber stamps, photographs, and art by children, received in response to emails she sent during her journey. Sophie's journal entries make up the text. There is great child appeal in the images, harsh conditions, and survival strategies, as well as in the behavior of animals. Diagrams depict ship parts and how icebergs are made; captioned postage stamps describe the fates of four early explorers. Occasional sequential photographs, sometimes grouped as 20 to 25 rectangles to a page, reveal the multiple moods of icebergs and sunsets and convey the sense that this adventure really happened. Endpapers contain geographical and historical tidbits and maps, first with a traditional view, where Antarctica is the southern-most point, and then an aerial view. This subject matter is similar to Sophie Webb's My Season With Penguins (Houghton Harcourt, 2000) and Jennifer Owings Dewey's Antarctic Journal (HarperCollins, 2001), though both of those volumes are rather dense for the picture-book format.--Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library