I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I hadn't heard of Alexander von Humboldt before reading this book but he did incredible things in the exploration of the rainforest and the creatures in it. Kids will like this j biography.

I had heard about Alexander von Humboldt on one of the many TV shows I watch on Science, Discovery, or Travel channel, and when I saw this book come across my screen, I knew I had to read it. While, I know it's outside my age demographic, I still thought it was very interesting, and that it kept the readers attention.

I learned about von Humboldt last year and I am glad I can use this book to introduce this larger-than-life figure to my students.

Beautifully illustrated children's non-fiction! It's a bit long, but for someone interested in discovering more about von Humboldt, it's a great combination of text and pictures.

I always enjoy children’s nonfiction picture books that tell the story of a person’s life. One of my recent finds was The Incredible Yet True Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt. I read it to a few of my boys while some of the others were away for a couple of days, and they thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Alexander von Humboldt was the younger son of an aristocratic family in Berlin in the late 1700s. Instead of doing his lessons, he would rather investigate the creatures and plants he found in the family’s backyard. As a young man, he got a job with the government and helped to make the mines safer. Once he had made his fortune, he wanted to travel—but where?

After finding a friend who also wanted to travel, Alexander set out for the Americas to study everything he possibly could. This included climbing into live volcanos, canoeing up and down wild rivers (and proving that rivers in South America behaved differently than the ones in Europe!), and climbing mountains. He collected plant, animal, soil and rock samples from every place he visited—and hauled them along with him!

After returning to Europe, Alexander found himself in high demand as a popular lecturer. People flocked to listen to him describe his discoveries. He was able to make one more trip, through Siberia at the bidding of the tsar—but was not able to take his time as he wanted to for investigation, much to his sorrow.

The boys who were at home when I read this story aloud greatly enjoyed it. They found the story quite a lot more interesting than the pictures, although the pictures did add to our enjoyment. After the others returned home, they were told about this amazing man we would never have heard about if we hadn’t come across this book!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

This book was beautifully illustrated and captured the attention and imagination of my two middle grade boys who aspire to study biology. My naturalist and ecology loving 11 year old loved that aspect of his life and my push the boundaries son loved the explorer aspect.

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

A wonderful introduction to Humboldt's life and his explorations around the world. For such a prominent figure in the realm of natural history, science, and exploration, Humboldt is a forgotten figure for some reason in broader history and it's a shame. It's one of the reasons I've become quite interested in learning more about him, and this was a great introductory book. While it is geared more towards middle grade and high-level grade school readers, it's one that provides a solid introduction to Humboldt for readers of any age. It's broken up into sections based on the major explorations in his life, and also deftly weaves in Aime Bonpland's role in the South American exploration as well (he was Humboldt's close friend, fellow natural history nerd, and a successful botanist). The only thing I wasn't much a fan of were the illustrations. While they were pretty, they didn't really add anything to the narrative of the story. Some of the smaller illustrations did highlight certain people or places, which was helpful, but the full page illustrations didn't really do much but set the mood and the tropical setting. However, the actual writing itself is quite excellent and I'd recommend it for anyone of any age looking for a brief introduction to Humboldt's incredible life!

This beautifully illustrated children's non-fiction book about Prussian explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt is, at 112 pages, too long to be a classic picture book and a bit too illustrated to be a chapter reader. It nevertheless is a perfect fit for a child transitioning to non-fiction chapter readers that still offers ample illustration. Humboldt led a fascinating life and has been credited as the first scientist to link human activity to climate-change. His explorations in the Americas were seminal for the study of biogeography.

This is a lovely science-related book to offer children in the late elementary grades.

I received a Digital and Paper Review Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Humboldt’s life brought vibrantly to color exposing the depth and brilliance of his extraordinary life. Inspiration and awe awaits within the pages of this masterfully designed book.

The Incredible yet True Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt: The Greatest Inventor-Naturalist-Scientist-Explorer Who Ever Lived is an biography for children written by Volker Mehnert and illustrated by Claudia Lieb. Explorer. Scientist. Polymath. Hero. In his day, Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was among the most renowned scholars of the Enlightenment. He led pioneering expeditions in Central and South America (including the Amazon rainforest) as well as in Siberia, and he arguably founded the natural sciences as we know them. Charles Darwin called Humboldt “the greatest scientific traveler who ever lived,” and credited him with inspiring the journey that resulted in On the Origin of Species. And yet, in history books, Humboldt has been eclipsed by his intellectual heirs and admirers—such as Darwin himself, John Muir, and Henry David Thoreau—until now.

The Incredible yet True Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt is a well written and researched book about an explorer and inventor that took part in many amazing expeditions and had a great impact on science. I like that it the story began with Humbolt being intelligent but distract able and frustrating his tutor. I think that could inspire readers with similar challenges academically to find their niche and work hard. Although I did find myself siding with his family a little as he quit his job and started exploring the world. It must be nice to do what ever you want with no obligations or money concerns, but I digress.I was glad to learn about his work, and thought the writing was easy to follow and accessible to middle grade readers. I liked the illustrated pages, and think the artwork added a great deal to the finished product. As a whole, it was a little dry at times and while I can admire the work he did, and the fact that it was not easy all the time, I cannot help but think about how many others with the same interests and intelligence could have done alongside, before, or after to further science if they only had the same opportunities.

The Incredible yet True Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt is an interesting and informative look at one inquisitive man's life. I like that it showed some of the challenges that he faced in his efforts to research and explore, but that the privilege of bring a rich man allowed him the opportunities that others with similar interests would not have had.

An illustrated middle grade biography of Baron Alexander Von Humboldt, famous Prussian explorer of the Americas in the early 1800s.

Humboldt was a daring explorer, who with his friend, Aimé Bonpland, a botanist, explored and mapped parts of South America in modern day Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, and Peru. They then spent time in Cuba and Mexico, before venturing up to say hello to the U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and speak about their travels for crowds before returning to Europe five years after they initially left. Humboldt had been a mining scientist in Prussia before his adventuring days, and he had a deep fascination with volcanoes. They think he knew more about them than anyone else during his time period. He and Aimé also likely set records for the highest mountain climb of the time, as well as discovering plants and animals previously unknown to Europeans. Their talks in Europe were extremely popular. I was pleased to discover that Humboldt had a surprisingly and refreshingly respectful attitude towards the indigenous cultures he came across and was outspoken against slavery before it was popular to do so. The book mentions how he brought up the issue with Jefferson. (I just realized he was a contemporary of William Wilberforce and did a quick little search and found out that the two did communicate about abolitionist efforts.) After an exploration trip across Russia for the Czar, Humboldt spent most of his remaining years writing what we’d now call popular science books (I’m guessing he wrote one of the first of that genre). This was a fascinating read that isn’t all that long. Humboldt is a refreshing explorer to study for how he respected the people and cultures he came across, and his boundless energy and things he did are engaging reading. Recommended to biography fans, adventure fans, and curious readers.

Notes on content: Some of the illustrations show indigenous people in their traditional dress (which is very little by Western standards), but the impressionistic art style makes the practical nudity not detailed and not scandalous.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Alexander von Humboldt’s adventures were truly incredible, and his contributions to philosophy and a wide range of sciences were no less impressive.

This informative book details the travels of Alexander von Humboldt, which more often than not included his botanist/physician friend, Aimé Bonpland. Their travels, whether by boat, on foot, or atop mules, were extensive and, at times, quite dangerous. For adventurers leaving Europe in 1799, Humboldt and Bonpland made journey after journey into parts unknown without accurate maps or any modern conveniences, astonishing is an understatement.

While none of the book is boring, Humboldt’s life, travels, achievements, writings, scientific contributions, and interactions with people from all walks of life and across the globe, are quite expansive and Volker Mehnert’s book reflects that; in fact, its subtitle names Alexander von Humboldt The Greatest Inventor-Naturalist-Scientist-Explorer Who Ever Lived.

Claudia Lieb’s illustrations are vibrant, inspired and vary widely: from starry skies to snow-capped mountains; indigenous populations including not only humans, but flora and fauna; smaller sketches and edge-to-edge fully colored spreads. There are scenes described in Mehnert’s words where photography, more so than any illustration, could have better captured the majesty of the lands; shown better the magnitude of the mountains, waterfalls, and gigantic trees; and more brilliantly represented the colors of the flower petals or bird feathers.

For anybody aiming to take a deep look into the life of a man who sailed seas, climbed volcanoes and mountains, and who had one of the brightest minds, if not the brightest, of his time, this book is that resource. Alexander von Humboldt’s desire to learn, to explore, and to understand everything in his universe is fascinating. He is deserving of more recognition and this book is a solid step in making that happen.


Thanks to The Experiment and NetGalley for the provided e-ARC and the opportunity to read this book. My review is honest, unbiased, and voluntary. #NetGalley #TheIncredibleYetTrueAdventuresOfAlexanderVonHumboldt

This could be good for older kids, but there was far too much dry text and not enough pictures to keep my 7 year old interested

This book is a unique mix of storytelling and interesting illustrations about Alexander von Humboldt. It was fun to read about his life which felt fresh even though he lived in the 1800's. The illustrations really stood out to me in this book as something that I think elevated this book above other biographies I've read.

A vividly pictorial survey of Humboldt's journeys throughout Latin America, which provided a lot of new information for me, let alone the target audience. The book is a little clumsy to read at times, with box-outs in the wrong place, and an awkward way of putting words into people's mouths ("'there are more mosquitos here than air,' the indigenous guides even complained" – allegedly). It's also modern in its thinking, ie too heavy-handed about the slavery of the continent and times, and the effects of the conquistadors. But the benefit of the book was a vivid telling of the journey he took with his travel companion, Aime Bonpland, whether it be linking the Orinoco river system with that of the Amazon, or climbing Ecuadorian volcanoes long before anybody else from their continent ever tried. The artwork varies between the modern landscape and the sketchy, as-if-from-his-notebooks detailed life studies, but it all works to make for a book that opens the eyes, and gives one a small sense of itchy feet. Go explore!

I have never heard of Alexander von Humboldt. I did not know there was an explorer that spent so much time in the Americas, studying the landscape, and the botany and the people.

This is amazing book, a sort of picture book, but with far more words than a picture book, of a man who was a contemporary of Thomas Jefferson. A man who had wealth and decided to spend it all on exploration. Working for years, collecting specimens, and then returning to Europe to write about them.
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He opened up the world of the Americas to the Europeans, which could be a bad thing, but he gathered information, which was a good thing.

Well written, fascinating story of this early European explorer. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.