This book is about how to be an explorer and what they do as explorers. Most explorers are very curious and like to travel all over the world to see different sights and to discover more about the earth. Marco Polo at 17 years old went to Asia to look at sights. He saw emeralds, rubies, and paper money, that took him 24 years. In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great began a quest to scout. Botanists, geographers, astronomers and engineers came along. Eleven years later Alexander founded 70 cities and a worldwide empire. Amerigo Vespucci sailed to South America in 1499. He explored rivers, harbors and 3,330 miles of coastline. In 1869, John Wesley, Powell was first to discover the Grand Canyon rivers. His crew were going through lots of whirlpools, jagged rocks, rapids and pounding waves. Today, this is a white river rafting sport. In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa marched across the Panama, the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and landed in the West Indies. George Washington rode 300 miles into the Ohio Valley Wilderness in the Winter. On his return he hiked 75 miles through deep snow. Amelia Earhart won honors for flying across the Atlantic, Hawaii to California, and non stop across the U.S.

I choose this book because of the many heroes and their discoveries discussed in the stories. I also enjoyed reading their accomplishments and how they help our world. I also thought it was a detailed and interesting book. I gave this book its rating because, it had a lot of good information and had good illustrations. Some of the author’s opinions could have stayed out, but it was a good book to read. I also learned more about people that lived in the past and what they did or wrote when they were alive. ( )

It was long and perfectly entertaining throughout. It broadens the definition of explorer adequately to accomodate modern exploration. It was a really well-written book. Good for an older audience thanks to the length, but entertaining throughout. ( )

The pathways theme of this book is Yesterday. It is a good book for boys in the middle grades who love exploring and adventure. It can be used as an example of a how to create a good hook. The intro grabs your interest as the author talks directly to the reader. It makes history captivating and worthwhile along with the funny illustrations and humorous text. Students can learn how to write with "voice" and interact with the reader through humor and exciting sentences like, "Great wasn't added to Alexander's name for nothing." ( )

Judith St. George writes excellent child-friendly nonfiction. In the same guise as So You Want to be President?, she profiles explorers from long ago and not so long ago. ( )

Lesson 4 - How and Why Europeans Came to the New World