Amazing Expeditions

Amazing Expeditions
Journeys That Changed The World
by Anita Ganeri

What a delightful book! First thought was that I want to buy it for my granddaughters – and you say why for granddaughters? Aren’t most men? Well, this book includes at least three women explorers that made the cut and the men in the book would inspire both men and women.

Twenty explorers who traveled the world between 600 BCE to rather recently were showcased in this book. Each explorer is given two pages so when you open to their information you see it spread before you with colorful illustrations, brief biographical information, the map with a key to the journey(s) made and illustrated snippets about the person on the page. I actually met a few explorers I had not heard of before and learned some new tidbits about those I had heard of in the past.

Do I recommend this book? Definitely
Would I buy it for myself or as a gift? Without a doubt

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids

5 Stars

The design is fun and colorful, very lovely and wonderfully illustrated. Each explorer was given a double spread, a short profile and biography, and the map of their journey. The information came in small portions with accompanying illustrations which I really liked instead of big chunks of texts. I learned more about the explorers I already know of, but also got to know about adventurers I haven't heard of before. Men seem to be dominating in the past when it came to expeditions, so I was very pleased that some strong and bright females were mentioned in this book, as well as explorers from Asia and the Middle East. A very joyful dive into history and its courageous adventurers!

What a fun book! Like it's companion book "Amazing Evolution," the illustrations in "Amazing Expeditions" are absolutely lovely. Covering explorers from modern day all the way back to BCE. I was very happy to see that the author did not cover only European explorers, but included some from China and the Middle East. Of course, there were very few women explorers (that we know of), so the gender ratio is quite skewed, but there are a couple of historic women included as well as some more modern ones. Highly recommend for any library!

Ganeri's book is full of wonderful surprises! This book provides an introduction to twenty explorers using six to ten points of information, a map, and biographical data. The standard fare of Columbus, Earhart, and Magellan are included, but what made me happiest was seeing lesser known explorers such as Xuanzang, Ibn Battuta, and Mary Kingsley were afforded the same two-page spread and focus. This book would be a fabulous addition to any classroom or home of a future adventurer.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Kids for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

This is a gorgeous book highlighting some of the most famous explorers from history.
The book has a simple, easy to follow layout full of wonderful illustrations and maps that bring each exploration to life in a new way. This would be an excellent addition to any class studying explorers as it covers a huge range of explorers, types of expeditions and history.
I learned about more details about explorers such as Ibn Battuta, Columbus and Armstrong. It was also nice to see female explorers added in so it isn't a completely male dominated book. We know historically, men were more likely to be explorers so its brilliant to see a couple of brave, bold women in the mix.
The journeys, peril and time spent away from home is amazing and these brave people sacrificed so much in the search for treasure, notoriety, and land. Many paid the ultimate sacrifice of their lives. This book also shows how we have improved travel, our understanding of the world and ways to protect the Earth over the span of time. It highlights, not only those who traversed oceans, but mountain climbers, pilots and astronauts.

Anita Ganeri is an expert author and so I knew it would be an excellent book. This is a topic I know little about and I spent a happy afternoon reading every part of this book. This is one that might draw in more boys to read and enjoy as the topic involves danger, fighting and shipwrecks at times.

A fascinating read and one I will be buying for my own shelves as well as those at school.

I absolutely loved this and the illustrations! If I had kids I would definitely have them read this. Even as an adult I learned some good things from this book. Definitely recommend. Super cute.

Another wonderful addition to the ’amazing’ series. It is just as beautifully illustrated and presented as Amazing Evolution.
I love that the book not only gives the reader a historical look into discovery and makes a point of identifying those involved, but that it gives young readers their first taste of map uses and understanding.

A great picture book about explorers appropriate for upper elementary/middle school students. I loved the organization of this book - each explorer had pages dedicated to them and their expedition and the text was split into chunks of information accompanied by a picture. While some of the material is for more mature readers (the mention of cannibalism when discussing Mary Kingsley, for example!), this would be a great book for parents to read with younger children if they have an interest in a specific explorer. My 5 year old and I have been learning about Amelia Earhart and she enjoyed listening to the pages about Amelia in this book!

This is such a cool book! It presents information in a brief but descriptive way and has amazing eye catching illustrations to boot! I love that each explorer gets a full page spread and nothing more - as an elementary media specialist, that’s about the amount of stamina that most of my students would have for learning about a topic like this, but this book will serve as a great stepping stone for explorers that they want to learn more about with more complex and lengthy texts. I love the inclusion of more modern day explorers, space travel, and women! Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

My daughter loves her board book on explorers so I jumped at the chance to request this and hopefully scope it out for my daughter. When I was approved and I opened up the first page, my jaw dropped and I let out a sound that could only be described as pure joy.

This books is a REAL treat. It features gorgeous illustrations, helpful explanations of why things are important and visual aids so kids can really see how far these explorers traveled. (It even has a forward that explains how to read a map and understand the legend.) I could easily see myself reading about an explorer at nighttime before bed. Each "chapter" devoted to an explorer was just long enough to keep a child's (or adult in this case) interest, but not bore them. There is plenty of opportunity for a parent/babysitter/older sibling, etc. to continue on the discussion once the story is done. I love how so many different explorers were represented. People from different countries, religions, time periods and backgrounds (and genders!!) - it was truly magnificent!

I absolutely plan on buying this for my daughter and any other young fan of learning more about our world. Five easy stars!!

Thanks to Netgalley, Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Kids and Anita Ganeri for the opportunity to read this book and provide an honest review!!!

From Hanno the Navigator, and people whose testimony we can't quite believe, through to Neil Armstrong, whose NASA footage, er, people decide not to believe. This is a very decent book for the school library or home use. Sometimes you need to have an explorer's bent to navigate the page layout, but for each double-page spread we get a brand new subject, and follow their adventures as they sought their end destination. The contents are successfully varied – this is very much not a men-only club, and neither is it confined to Western explorers as similar books of old would have been. Very handy maps and decent little cameos of artwork all over the place mean this is visually appealing, too. But it wins out in the ease with which it conveys its information, perfectly pitched at the primary school pupil with a project to do, and, hopefully, wanderlust in their blood.

Five stars- my inner child just marvelled at this beautifully-illustrated book full of stories of discovery and adventure!

Amazing Expeditions is organized in 20 colourful double page spreads dedicated to 22 extraordinary explorers. I loved the sheer variety- in time (from Hanno the Navigator and Xuanzang to Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary) and geography (seas and oceans, land, skies, mountains, and even space). Women explorers are often overlooked in history books, so I was very glad to see Mary Kingsley, Amelia Earhart and Ellen MacArthur. There is also a conscise, but important overview of the reasons why people went and continue going on expeditions. The book doesn't shy away from the fact that in some cases exploration had negative consequences for the people who already lived in the 'discovered' lands.

Every spread is broken into 8-10 short paragraphs which visually reminded me of stopovers on an expedition. The way the information is given in shorter chunks will definitely help to keep the young reader’s attention and interest. There is also a map of the journey undertaken by the explorer. I loved the short introduction with a simple guide to reading maps.

I would have loved this kind of book as a child and I think every school library should have a copy of this wonderful and inspiring read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ivy Kids /Quarto Publishing Group for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Amazing Expeditions has earned a spot on my social studies school shelf. We homeschool and this book is a great addition to our social studies curriculum. The book is visually engaging and the explores covered were great choices. I will suggest this book to other parents looking to add some fun to their social studies teachings.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

This is such an appealing book for kids interested in maps and exploration! It charts journeys that expanded knowledge of the world, starting in ancient times and continuing to the modern era. Each two page spread is lavishly illustrated and easy to follow. The route of the traveler and facts about the things seen are so interesting.

The book starts with some good information on exploration, then moves on to describe how to read and use the maps. Then the journeys begin. Just some of the explorers included are Hanno the Navigator (a very early explorer), Ibn Battuta (a devout Muslim), Cortez, Cook, and Peary. There are also several women!

The book is politically correct as it, for example, commenting on the controversy around Columbus. Additionally, the author points out that some expeditions, such as Amelia Earhart's, end tragically but nonetheless are noteworthy.

I learned a lot while reading this book. The world is there for each of us to explore!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. I very much enjoyed my armchair travels. All opinions are my own.

I received this arc from Netgalley for an honest review. This kids nonfiction book is about explorers throughout history. From Christopher Columbus to Marco Polo and many other explorers you haven’t heard of. Kids will enjoy the fun illustrations and learning about each explorer too.

I love how this book is arranged. Each explorer has a two-page spread with small, numbered, easily-digestible blurbs about their adventures; taken as a whole, creating a remarkable journey. For someone who has already studied any of these individuals, some of the information may seem oversimplified, but I feel this it is at just the right level for anyone new to learning about these voyages. I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this book for our home library.

“Exploration has revealed many mysteries of the world but in some cases it has also had terrible consequences, especially for the people already living in the lands being explored. It’s important to look back and remember the good and the bad so that future explorers can learn from the past.” This is an important statement to make when we learn about these voyages of the past. I do appreciate the author addressing the negative impacts some of these explorers made, specifically with Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes.

Stars: 4
Would I Recommend? Yes

Like its companion book – Amazing Evolution – this book takes us on an amazing exploration through the ages. Anita Ganeri and Michael Mullan team together to create a wonderful partnership of words and images to take us on this learning journey.

Amazing Expeditions has 20 gorgeously illustrated double-page spreads depicting 22 explorers. I loved and appreciated that the explorers included covers a wide range – across time (from Hanno the Navigator in 6th century BCE to Ellen MacArthur’s 2005 expedition) and space (literally too with the inclusion on Neil Armstrong!) Women are not overlooked as well and I am glad for that (else how would I have learned about Mary Kingsley).

The book starts with a brief introduction of exploration itself (hows, whys, whens, wheres, whats) and then provides an easy to understand key to reading the maps used later in the book for each explorer(s). It also touches upon the importance of maps themselves.


Each double-page spread includes a brief biography of the explorer(s), a map of their journey(s), and 8-10 short numbered paragraphs beautifully laid out like a map (with arrows taking us to the next stop) that tell us more about the expedition(s).

In Summary
Visually appealing, textually accessible, and overall simply brilliant – this book is a must-add to any library; and will definitely bring out the explorer and adventurer that is inside each and every one of us. A perfect starting guide to make the reader curious to learn more.

Rating: A+
Reading Level: 7 – 11 years (well, really all ages)
Reread Level: A

Disclaimer: Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids for the digital ARC of this book. These are my honest opinions.

48 beautiful pages of thrilling voyages, scientific discoveries and unforgettable adventures! Highlighting some of history's greatest journeys through 20 of the world’s most heroic and extraordinary explorers, this book is perfect for the curious minded and the future adventurers.

Whilst well known explorers like Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart and Christopher Columbus made a deserved appearance it was fascinating to see a lot of lesser known figures too, not to mention a few incredible female explorers as well!

Packed with information without being too text heavy, and accompanied with beautiful illustrations that visually map out the journeys, Amazing Expeditions should have pride of place on every child's bookshelf.

An interesting assortment of subjects here. I'd say equal parts familiar and lesser known. Each explorer gets a two page spread, amounting to 10-12 bullet points with illustrations. A basic introduction.

This book is a kid-friendly overview of some prominent historical figures. It lays out the adventure of a particular person over a 2 page spread with each one acting like a map that you read and follow along with. (It has some introductory info about reading the map etc.)

As an adult without a particular fondness for history, I think this is a very cute way to present history as an exploration and adventure to kids. The people covered are: Hanno the Navigator, Xuanzang, Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Zheng He, Christopher Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernan Cortes, James Cook, Lewis & Clark, David Livingstone, Mary Kingsley, Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, Amelia Earhart, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, Neil Armstron, and Ellen MacArthur

Great book for kids, seems like it would be ideal for evening bedtime stories. Maybe going over one adventure each night.

I received an ARC e-copy of the book for this honest review. The only negative thing I have is that the text seemed small, but likely a non-issue with the print version.

Amazing expeditions is right! This book is GREAT!! The formit is exciting enough for children to read/look at alone, and has small enough sections great for kids learning to read!

This book caught my eye because our current topic at school is explorers. This book was great! With lots of information about expeditions and explorers from the past. With different cultures, historical periods and genders represented, I’m sure there’s something for everyone’s interests in this book. Each page is packed with diagrams, pictures and information well presented in bite sized chunks and giving a profile of each explorer in the step of a journey around the page.

I wouldn’t hesitate to use parts of this book in school, particularly in a key stage 2 classroom.

This book is excellent!
There is plenty of detail and it will spark the interest of any young explorers.
I thought that the images were great and I loved the way that the different stories were told.
Plenty of opportunities as well to encourage further learning on those featured.
Five stars from me for this one - very highly recommended!!