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The Day the World Exploded: The Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa
This is the children's picture book adaptation by Dwight Jon Zimmerman of the book "Krakatoa: the Day the World Exploded."
Eruptions.
Explosions.
Shock waves.
Tsunamis.
The almighty explosion that destroyed the volcano island of Krakatoa was followed by an immense tsunami that killed more than thirty thousand people. The effects of the waves were felt as far away as France, and bodies were washed up in Zanzibar.
Today, one hundred and twenty-five years after the volcano erupted in one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known, the name Krakatoa is still synonymous with disaster.
In this illustrated account based on Simon Winchester's bestselling Krakatoa, the colossal explosion is brought to vivid life. From the ominous warnings leading up to the eruption to the wave of killings it provoked, here is an engaging and insightful look at what happened on the day the world exploded.
Eruptions.
Explosions.
Shock waves.
Tsunamis.
The almighty explosion that destroyed the volcano island of Krakatoa was followed by an immense tsunami that killed more than thirty thousand people. The effects of the waves were felt as far away as France, and bodies were washed up in Zanzibar.
Today, one hundred and twenty-five years after the volcano erupted in one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known, the name Krakatoa is still synonymous with disaster.
In this illustrated account based on Simon Winchester's bestselling Krakatoa, the colossal explosion is brought to vivid life. From the ominous warnings leading up to the eruption to the wave of killings it provoked, here is an engaging and insightful look at what happened on the day the world exploded.
96 pages, Hardcover
Published May 6, 2008
2 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Simon Winchester
90 books2,292 followersSimon Winchester, OBE, is a British writer, journalist and broadcaster who resides in the United States. Through his career at The Guardian, Winchester covered numerous significant events including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. As an author, Simon Winchester has written or contributed to over a dozen nonfiction books and authored one novel, and his articles appear in several travel publications including Condé Nast Traveler, Smithsonian Magazine, and National Geographic.
In 1969, Winchester joined The Guardian, first as regional correspondent based in Newcastle upon Tyne, but was later assigned to be the Northern Ireland Correspondent. Winchester's time in Northern Ireland placed him around several events of The Troubles, including the events of Bloody Sunday and the Belfast Hour of Terror.
After leaving Northern Ireland in 1972, Winchester was briefly assigned to Calcutta before becoming The Guardian's American correspondent in Washington, D.C., where Winchester covered news ranging from the end of Richard Nixon's administration to the start of Jimmy Carter's presidency. In 1982, while working as the Chief Foreign Feature Writer for The Sunday Times, Winchester was on location for the invasion of the Falklands Islands by Argentine forces. Suspected of being a spy, Winchester was held as a prisoner in Tierra del Fuego for three months.
Winchester's first book, In Holy Terror, was published by Faber and Faber in 1975. The book drew heavily on his first-hand experiences during the turmoils in Ulster. In 1976, Winchester published his second book, American Heartbeat, which dealt with his personal travels through the American heartland. Winchester's third book, Prison Diary, was a recounting of his imprisonment at Tierra del Fuego during the Falklands War and, as noted by Dr Jules Smith, is responsible for his rise to prominence in the United Kingdom. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Winchester produced several travel books, most of which dealt with Asian and Pacific locations including Korea, Hong Kong, and the Yangtze River.
Winchester's first truly successful book was The Professor and the Madman (1998), published by Penguin UK as The Surgeon of Crowthorne. Telling the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the book was a New York Times Best Seller, and Mel Gibson optioned the rights to a film version, likely to be directed by John Boorman.
Though Winchester still writes travel books, he has repeated the narrative non-fiction form he used in The Professor and the Madman several times, many of which ended in books placed on best sellers lists. His 2001 book, The Map that Changed the World, focused on geologist William Smith and was Whichester's second New York Times best seller. The year 2003 saw Winchester release another book on the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, The Meaning of Everything, as well as the best-selling Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. Winchester followed Krakatoa's volcano with San Francisco's 1906 earthquake in A Crack in the Edge of the World. The Man Who Loved China (2008) retells the life of eccentric Cambridge scholar Joseph Needham, who helped to expose China to the western world. Winchester's latest book, The Alice Behind Wonderland, was released March 11, 2011.
- source Wikipedia
In 1969, Winchester joined The Guardian, first as regional correspondent based in Newcastle upon Tyne, but was later assigned to be the Northern Ireland Correspondent. Winchester's time in Northern Ireland placed him around several events of The Troubles, including the events of Bloody Sunday and the Belfast Hour of Terror.
After leaving Northern Ireland in 1972, Winchester was briefly assigned to Calcutta before becoming The Guardian's American correspondent in Washington, D.C., where Winchester covered news ranging from the end of Richard Nixon's administration to the start of Jimmy Carter's presidency. In 1982, while working as the Chief Foreign Feature Writer for The Sunday Times, Winchester was on location for the invasion of the Falklands Islands by Argentine forces. Suspected of being a spy, Winchester was held as a prisoner in Tierra del Fuego for three months.
Winchester's first book, In Holy Terror, was published by Faber and Faber in 1975. The book drew heavily on his first-hand experiences during the turmoils in Ulster. In 1976, Winchester published his second book, American Heartbeat, which dealt with his personal travels through the American heartland. Winchester's third book, Prison Diary, was a recounting of his imprisonment at Tierra del Fuego during the Falklands War and, as noted by Dr Jules Smith, is responsible for his rise to prominence in the United Kingdom. Throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s, Winchester produced several travel books, most of which dealt with Asian and Pacific locations including Korea, Hong Kong, and the Yangtze River.
Winchester's first truly successful book was The Professor and the Madman (1998), published by Penguin UK as The Surgeon of Crowthorne. Telling the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, the book was a New York Times Best Seller, and Mel Gibson optioned the rights to a film version, likely to be directed by John Boorman.
Though Winchester still writes travel books, he has repeated the narrative non-fiction form he used in The Professor and the Madman several times, many of which ended in books placed on best sellers lists. His 2001 book, The Map that Changed the World, focused on geologist William Smith and was Whichester's second New York Times best seller. The year 2003 saw Winchester release another book on the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, The Meaning of Everything, as well as the best-selling Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. Winchester followed Krakatoa's volcano with San Francisco's 1906 earthquake in A Crack in the Edge of the World. The Man Who Loved China (2008) retells the life of eccentric Cambridge scholar Joseph Needham, who helped to expose China to the western world. Winchester's latest book, The Alice Behind Wonderland, was released March 11, 2011.
- source Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 5, 2008
Meh. It's fine but it didn't really live up to expectations. I thought that a book about Krakatoa would really knock my socks off, but there was an odd amount of unrelated asides and unnecessary full-page illustrations. You felt like asking the author to just take a deep breath and tell the story rather than riddle it with sidebars. Normally I like sidebars, but these got extreme and the story suffered as a result. A fine Krakatoa book. Just not as good as it could have been.
March 2, 2020
I read this for the "Written by a Blogger or Journalist" part of my 2020 reading challenge. I enjoyed it as much as I did his full Krakatoa story, there was a lot of science that was well explained and broken down, great pictures, and a lot of fun facts I didn't know before.
October 23, 2012
Simon Winchester's well-researched historical works have lured fiction readers to the nonfiction genre. Krakatoa provided a riveting account of the volcano's 1883 eruption and its aftermath. Dwight Zimmerman's outstanding adaptation for young people uses a conversational approach inviting readers into the world of Krakatoa. [return][return]From the engaging text to the wide variety of vivid visual examples, The Day the World Exploded immerses readers in both an historical and scientific adventure. Zimmerman's ability to condense Winchester's work and focus on the key elements necessary for the young audience is outstanding. Focusing on a variety of topics including legends, science, business, communication, culture, early warnings, the explosion and it's impact, the book tells the story of the people and places impacted by this historical event. [return][return]Maps, diagrams, historical etching, photographs, news clippings, and color illustrations detail much more than the event itself. Readers are immersed in all aspects of the history, science, people, and time periods.[return][return]Features including a glossary, list of suggested resources, and index will be particularly appealing for young researchers. The book's sidebars are filled with "News Briefs" providing wonderful insights into the time and place.[return][return]Although the large format may be attractive to very young children, the reading level is most appropriate for intermediate and middle school students. High school students seeking high interest, low reading level materials will also find this book appealing.[return][return]If you're looking for a way to bring history alive for young people, read Dwight Zimmerman's adaptation of The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester.[return][return]Ideas for Teachers and Parents[return]Pair this book with its parent, Krakatoa by Simon Winchester, for a shared reading experience. Parents or teens could read Krakatoa while youngsters read The Day the World Exploded. Then, use the Internet to explore additional resources about Volcanoes. Even better, take a family or school trip to a volcano site.[return][return]Compare the events surrounding Krakatoa to more recent catastrophes.[return][return]What natural disasters are likely in the area where you live? Is your community prepared? Create a family plan so you'll be ready.
August 21, 2012
This is an overwhelmingly detailed children's book about the disaster in Krakatoa in 1883. The historical, cultural and background information provided is interesting, and I appreciate that the story is condensed from a 464-page novel into a 96-page 'picture book,' adapted for children. But I must say that the editors should have condensed it by half again in order to make it appropriately sized for children. The pictures are terrific, but some of the narrative detail and anecdotes are quite random and it's hard to follow the linkages (ie, semaphore flags for passing Lloyds representatives, Reuters reporters, elephants in hotel rooms, cannonball artists losing fingers, and on and on and on...)
We read this book in small chunks, gradually learning about volcanoes, colonial expansion, scientific discoveries, and specifics about the disaster. But it was just too much information and our girls merely humored me each night as we would read a few pages. Then I went away on a couple of trips and neither wanted to pick the book up again. I finished the second half of the book on my own in one afternoon, pausing to show my youngest a few of the most interesting pictures and tidbits, but she had no interest in listening to the rest of the narrative.
One interesting fact that I learned was that the inspiration for the famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch was from the vivid sunsets produced by the debris in the atmosphere spread all over the world following the massive eruption at Krakatoa. And apparently the shock wave from the eruption circled the globe seven times. Wow! There's a lot of interesting information provided, but it's all over the place and not very coherently organized. After reading several of the reviews on Goodreads of the longer book, I am certainly glad that I read the condensed version!
Despite the fact that we only read half of the book together, I think we all learned a little more about the various topics and it is a worthwhile read, but I would recommend this for older children, perhaps those in middle school or older. It would certainly be a useful resource book for a report or project.
We read this book in small chunks, gradually learning about volcanoes, colonial expansion, scientific discoveries, and specifics about the disaster. But it was just too much information and our girls merely humored me each night as we would read a few pages. Then I went away on a couple of trips and neither wanted to pick the book up again. I finished the second half of the book on my own in one afternoon, pausing to show my youngest a few of the most interesting pictures and tidbits, but she had no interest in listening to the rest of the narrative.
One interesting fact that I learned was that the inspiration for the famous painting The Scream by Edvard Munch was from the vivid sunsets produced by the debris in the atmosphere spread all over the world following the massive eruption at Krakatoa. And apparently the shock wave from the eruption circled the globe seven times. Wow! There's a lot of interesting information provided, but it's all over the place and not very coherently organized. After reading several of the reviews on Goodreads of the longer book, I am certainly glad that I read the condensed version!
Despite the fact that we only read half of the book together, I think we all learned a little more about the various topics and it is a worthwhile read, but I would recommend this for older children, perhaps those in middle school or older. It would certainly be a useful resource book for a report or project.
April 30, 2017
This is the children's picture book adaptation of Simon Winchester's adult book, Krakatoa: the Day the World Exploded. I read the latter several years ago and enjoyed it very much, though I felt Winchester went a little too far in presenting every even remotely relevant detail to the story. I enjoyed the picture book just as much as the adult book; perhaps more so because of the presence of pictures that I don't remember seeing in the adult version. Highly recommended!
On a side note, twice now I've found that someone has combined this children's version with the adult version, and twice now I've separated them. I hope I don't have to do it again!!
On a side note, twice now I've found that someone has combined this children's version with the adult version, and twice now I've separated them. I hope I don't have to do it again!!
December 11, 2010
romping stuff great factual read
March 10, 2025
The 1883 eruption and subsequent destruction of the volcanic island of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Straight between Sumatra and Java, is retold in this engaging and informative picture book, a children's adaptation of Simon Winchester's adult book,
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
. Background sections are devoted to understanding volcanoes, the history of the spice trade in that part of the world, the century of scientific discoveries which preceded the event, the early warning signs of the disaster, a history of the conflagration itself, and what happened afterward. Back matter includes a glossary, suggested volcano websites, and suggested reading...
At 96 pages, The Day the World Exploded: The Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa is definitely a picture book aimed at older children, perhaps upper elementary and middle-school-aged. It is a large book, physically, and contains copious illustrations, including contemporary photographs, period illustrations, and original illustrations from Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Jason Chin. As it happens, Chin is the reason I tracked this one down, as I am an admirer of his work. That said, while I appreciated his contribution, in the end I was more impressed by the story itself and by the way in which it was presented—kudos to original author Simon Winchester, and to Dwight Jon Zimmerman, who adapted the book for younger readers. I appreciated all of the background information, which enriches the reader's understanding of the events at Krakatoa, and the reasons they became a worldwide sensation. Recommended to children who are interested in volcanoes, disasters, and world history.
At 96 pages, The Day the World Exploded: The Earthshaking Catastrophe at Krakatoa is definitely a picture book aimed at older children, perhaps upper elementary and middle-school-aged. It is a large book, physically, and contains copious illustrations, including contemporary photographs, period illustrations, and original illustrations from Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator Jason Chin. As it happens, Chin is the reason I tracked this one down, as I am an admirer of his work. That said, while I appreciated his contribution, in the end I was more impressed by the story itself and by the way in which it was presented—kudos to original author Simon Winchester, and to Dwight Jon Zimmerman, who adapted the book for younger readers. I appreciated all of the background information, which enriches the reader's understanding of the events at Krakatoa, and the reasons they became a worldwide sensation. Recommended to children who are interested in volcanoes, disasters, and world history.
January 22, 2009
This is an adaptation of Simon Winchester's adult book Krakatoa. Winchester explores the history of Indonesia and Dutch colonization there as well as the technological advances that made Krakatoa the first major disaster that was reported on as it was happening. It's an odd choice for an illustrated adaptation since there aren't many photographs or drawings from that time included. There are many photographs of volcanoes behaving similarly to Krakatoa and there are many illustrations created for this book. Another weird thing is that the list of recommended resources contains (as far as I can tell) exclusively adult titles.
The Day the World Exploded has some interesting information about history and science (and the history of science). I'd hand it to middle graders and teens who like books like Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo. It would also be appropriate for reports on Indonesia or volcanoes.
The Day the World Exploded has some interesting information about history and science (and the history of science). I'd hand it to middle graders and teens who like books like Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo. It would also be appropriate for reports on Indonesia or volcanoes.
November 16, 2015
BEWARE. I DON'T FLAG SPOILERS. BUT I DON'T PUT MY REVIEWS OUT ON ANY FEED, EITHER.
I'd rather read a good instructional book intended for children - such as this one w. history and science themes - than an adult-oriented "Whatever Topic for Dummies."
There's nothing condescending in a children's edition, and the simple language is often a thing of beauty.
Iinteresting to read -- and see, through many photos and drawings -- how the 1883 volcano explosion on Krakatoa Island gained fame and notoriety not only fr. the event's objective magnitude, but also due to such modernities as the quick transmission of news by telegraph and the era's prevalence of (factory-produced?) barometer ownership even by private citizens, which led to world-wide noticing of air pressure changes caused by the explosion.
i actually have no desire to read the author's full-blown adult version of the Krakatoa catastrophe, because this one was satisfying enough. But then, I don't read all that much history.
I'd rather read a good instructional book intended for children - such as this one w. history and science themes - than an adult-oriented "Whatever Topic for Dummies."
There's nothing condescending in a children's edition, and the simple language is often a thing of beauty.
Iinteresting to read -- and see, through many photos and drawings -- how the 1883 volcano explosion on Krakatoa Island gained fame and notoriety not only fr. the event's objective magnitude, but also due to such modernities as the quick transmission of news by telegraph and the era's prevalence of (factory-produced?) barometer ownership even by private citizens, which led to world-wide noticing of air pressure changes caused by the explosion.
i actually have no desire to read the author's full-blown adult version of the Krakatoa catastrophe, because this one was satisfying enough. But then, I don't read all that much history.
December 28, 2021
An excellent adaptation of Winchester's longer book on the same subject. This edition is aimed at young adults yet sophisticated enough for the adult reader. The illustrations by Jonathan Chin really bring some to life in full color. The simplified text is accessible enough for middle and high schoolers. This would be a good resource (among others) for a report on the (in)famous volcanic eruption.
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September 28, 2018THIS is what makes our day "As someone whose forte was never science, I was rather surprised to find myself enjoying this book." Woot! See more of why our teen loved this book in the Reading Tub review.
January 10, 2016
A whole lot of information here, about the historical and technological developments of the time, to provide a setting for the Krakatau Island volcanic explosion. Too many words for a read-aloud but good wealth of information about volcanoes and tsunamis.
January 26, 2010
Love love love how Winchester creates a realistic take on what may have happened during that eventful blast.
A tear of geological joy was shed for this.
A tear of geological joy was shed for this.
Want to read
March 26, 2011With all I teach about Vesuvius, this will be a good one to show the kids. Will have to read the adult version...eventually...my new reading theme.
November 19, 2012
A young reader's version of Simon Winchester's award-winning history of the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.
May 30, 2013
Great information about Krakatoa's explosion.
December 26, 2013
Blends history and science to recreate a tale of a long ago disaster.
June 16, 2018
Really nice illustrated kids’ version of Winchester’s Krakatoa.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews