Explorers: Amazing Tales of the World's Greatest Adventures

by Nellie Huang, Barbara Hillary (Foreword), Jessamy Hawke (Illustrator)

Live and see the world through the eyes of 50 of the world's greatest explorers and their trusty companions!

This book for kids is brimming with first-person accounts of gripping adventures in explorers' own words. Find exciting tales complemented by rare maps, specially commissioned photographs, and artworks that re-create history's greatest expeditions. Get ready to take a leap into the unknown…


An adventure book that will surely rival even the most thrilling adventure movies! You'll meet some of the most famous explorers and adventurers of all time in this exciting non-fiction storybook for children. 

Great explorers have one thing in common - a desire to leap into the unknown, no matter the dangers it presents. This book will take you through Ferdinand Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world 500 years ago to Barbara Hillary's treks to the North and South poles while in her seventies, and beyond. This knowledge book documents the stories of men and women who rewrote our understanding of the world and inspired us by pushing the boundaries of human capability.

A kid's educational book that looks at the towering achievements of more than 50 explorers from all walks of life in great detail. See sensational cross-sections revealing the amazing detail inside Spanish galleons, lost cities, and spaceships. Magnificent photographs highlight the artifacts and relics they found along the way, while hand-drawn maps reveal their intrepid journeys in such detail, you feel as though you could be walking in their very footsteps. 

It is a glorious introduction to history's most famous trailblazers - people whose courage opened frontiers turned voids into maps, forged nations, connected cultures, and added to humankind's knowledge of the world by leaps and bounds. Packed with jaw-dropping fun facts about the world and written so beautifully it will get your heart racing.  Explorers  is the perfect kid's book for any young mind with an avid sense of adventure! 

Explore Unknown Waters – Take To The Skies – Investigate Our Planet!

For centuries, explorers have been unable to resist the secrets of the sea. We have looked toward the skies and stars since the beginning of time. Through dense jungles, dry desserts, and frozen mountains we have pushed the very limits of human endurance in the name of exploration and adventure! 

These tales are not for the faint of heart - these adventurers faced challenges that threatened their very survival! Their courage has allowed us to collect a wealth of knowledge about our awe-inspiring universe.

Set sail to faraway frozen lands, defy gravity and take to the skies, and investigate our planet through the stories of those who came before us. Happy exploring!

Learn about the explorers who defied the so-called possibilities of their time  

- Sea & Ice
- Air & Space
- And Land

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Biography, Childrens, Adventure, Middle Grade

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 2019

About the author

Nellie Huang is the founder of WildJunket. Since creating this website in 2008, she has fulfilled her dream of becoming a full-time traveler and writer. She continues to help readers by sharing her travel experiences to off-grid destinations. Her mission is to visit every country in the world.

Reviews

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 4 out of 5]

DK knows how to pique the interest of young readers. All their books have been well received by educators, parents and children alike with their beautiful illustrations, photos, and excerpts. This one is no exception. It is visually stunning and the information is presented in bite-size format.

Explorers: Amazing Tales of the World's Greatest Adventurers encompasses a wide variety of explorations. Aside from well-known achievements in exploration and famous explorers, it also delves into areas of sea, ice, cave, animal, treasure and scientific/natural world explorations worldwide. Adventures of passion, travel, documents, diaries, goods, and tools are examined. From the Ancient Greeks to Darwin to Zheng He, not a stone or idea stays unturned.

This book serves well as an introductory overview of all kinds of explorations. The information is presented on the two-page format as in many other DK books, and with every page turn, something new or a subgenre is presented. With the beautiful illustrations and the friendly fonts, it is engaging and captivating to the eye.

A beautiful book to read with younger kids or early readers to encourage and inspire. Definitely a great book to have on hand and share :)

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
All opinions are my own. Thank you :)


More of my reviews and pic on my blog:
https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fabulous children’s book on global exploration by pioneers who have opened the world! Includes 50 of the greatest adventurers, with accounts in their own voices, rare photos and maps and artwork documenting their trips. Plus 60 of their assistants. This is how history should be taught, vibrantly, through first-person accounts and thrilling stories. Should be on every classroom, library and home bookshelf!

Pub Date 03 Sep 2019.

Thanks to the Nellie Huang, DK, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#Explorers #NetGalley

[Etienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good depth into the explorers presented. Unfortunately, the illustrations is way to childish for my taste. Interesting book for middle grade age kids that want to learn about explorers and their exploration.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I didn't expect to like this book a whole lot, as books about explorers tend to focus on European white men who traveled hundreds of years ago and often did some pretty awful stuff, and then those books tend to make heroes out of them. This book came as a pleasant surprise, as it not only focuses on explorers from all time periods (from ancient to right now), but it features explorers of all different nationalities and features many women, with the biographies featuring people all the way up to the present (and some pretty interesting ones). It also talks about "the dark side of exploration" and issues like violence, slavery and colonization.

The book is divided into sections of explorers who explored by sea and ice, land, and air and space. Examples of the sea and ice explorers are Pytheas, Leif Erikson, Zheng He, James Cook, Bungaree, Jacques Cousteau, Thor Heyerdahl, Barbara Hillary and Sylvia Earle. Examples of land explorers are Marco Polo, Esteban Dorantes, Lewis & Clark & Sacagawea, Charles Darwin, Nellie Bly, Aloha Wanderwell and Mario Rigby. Examples of air and space explorers are Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova, and Mae Jemison.

The book is filled with lavish, colorful drawings. Lots of facts are tucked into the pages and there are many maps and other useful images.

This would make a great addition to a homeschool or school library, and is a great book for teaching children about explorers throughout history.

My rating system:

1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an *excellent* book about explorers and their expeditions. Each explorer got a page or two-page spread filled with fascinating facts about them and what they discovered.

One thing I really, really liked about it is that it does *not* focus on the standard white / European explorers one learns about in school. Several of them are there, but there are also many non-European explorers, non-white explorers, and women explorers. There is also always a note at the end about the negative results of the expeditions. Like yes, it opened the new world up to Europe but it also exposed the indiginous peoples to new diseases and wiped out huge swaths of their populations, or exacerbated the slave trade, etc.

This book also doesn't focus solely on conquering expeditions. There are scientific expeditions, deep-sea and outer-space expeditions, mountain-climbing and arctic exploration expeditions... There's a huge variety of information in this book and my kiddo (8) ate it up.

It also avoids standard history-book pitfalls by having great writing that sucks you in and makes you want to know more about each expedition and explorer.

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy bien hecho, como la mayoria de los libros que hace DK. Una revision de muchisimos exploradores desde Pythias antes de la era común a los exploradores del espacio. Mas que recomendable no solo para jovenes que el publico al que va destinado sino para toda la gente

[RumBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book focuses on 50 of the world's greatest explorers. The book is divided into three major sections: Sea & Ice, Land and Air and Space. Each section is laid out in chronological order, starting with some of the earliest individuals to explore their respective surfaces. The timeline goes up through the present day, with explorers that are still living.

The book is visually stunning, with amazing art, reproductions of maps, and photos of items and people that were on the expeditions. To conclude there are shorter biographies of people who assisted the explorers, along with a Glossary and Index.

You could spend hours browsing, and reading this fascinating history of exploring our world, it is that engaging.

[Seema Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luscious ~ Enchanting ~ Well-researched

tl;dr: Humans has often been moved to leave home and explore the greater world.

Huang and her illustrator Jessamy Hawke have developed a complete winner. I am a lifelong DK book lover. But, the world is quite different than when I was a kid. I was a bit nervous to pick up this book. I am thrilled Huang and Hawke did not step away from the negative aspects of exploration. Nor did they see exploration as unidirectional (from Europe out). This is a book about exploration for this generation. I LOVED the people they chose, younger people, older ones, women, men, people of color. The illustrations are lovely, hitting a hard to accomplish tone of sophisticated naivete. Also, whoever did the layout and design should be getting a few laurels. It looks wonderful.

Thanks to NetGalley and DK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter

[Book Him Danno · Rating 4 out of 5]

DK Readers knows how to pull in young readers to discover the world and the greatest adventures. The book will have readers coming back to this book as a reference as well as finding new information every times readers open the book. The book covers Ancient Greeks, Zheng, and some of the greatest explorers and some of the lesser known.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher DK Publishing for the advance copy of Nellie Huang Explorers.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cool book! We read a few pages at a time for school, and we really enjoyed the varied explorers’ experiences and the illustrations. I was really happy to see a good number of female explorers represented.

[Evan Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this one actually to use in my classroom at school. Every year, I have my 7th graders do a project on one famous European explorer from the Age of Exploration, and this book looked like it would be fun and helpful. Once I got it, I saw that that was indeed true, but the book is much more as well. Actually, Jackson (he’s four) saw it sitting out, and liked the look of it, so we ended up reading it all together before I brought it in to school.



This book is perfect for any young person to learn about the world and the people who have explored it. This goes for really any part of the world, as far back as we have good records, and right up to the present day. I like how it also breaks down into sea & ice, land, and air & space. I definitely learned amazing feats by people I have never heard of, and that is saying something for me at this point.



The artwork does a lot to enhance the book, and the writing is just enough knowledge without being too long for a younger audience. The book also definitely does not shy away from the darker side of exploration—both its detrimental impact on peoples and environments. At the same time, it highlights miraculous human achievements, explores some about the motivations of what would push people to take on some of these crazy adventures.



All in all, a really fun and well-done unexpected read. As I’ve said before, there are far more and better non-fiction books for young people now than when I was growing up.

[Jason Muckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Explorers" by Nellie Huang was an interesting read for kids about all the greatest explorers. There was lots of great pictures and illustrations. The book covered the history of earlier explorers starting in Africa and covering famed explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Jacques Cousteau.

This was a wonderful book full of history, geography, and culture for kids.

I received this as an eBook from DK Children via NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review of the title. I did not receive any compensation from either company. The opinions expressed herein are completely my own.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explorers: Amazing Tales of the World’s Greatest Adventures by Nellie Huang does just what its title says—traces the chronological journeys of 50+ explorer/adventurers, a nicely diverse lot in terms of region and gender from the Norse Lief Erikson to the Chinese Zheng He to the French woman Jeanne Baret who disguised herself as a man to go aboard ship to the Australian Aboriginal leader Bungaree and many, many more. The diversity and breadth are definitely two of the strengths of this survey, even if Huang sometimes blurs the line (especially in latter examples) between “explorer” and “adventurer.” But that’s a minor quibble in a collection that either brings to more light underreported examples or offers up a few that, at least in my experience (and I read a good amount in this area) were wholly new to me.

The book is text-heavy, so not really for younger readers—more in the 4th or 5th grade and up I’d say. The illustrations are fine, if not particularly captivating or compelling, but Huang makes very good use of primary documents such as photos and journals. Older books on the topic tend to cover the same old same old white European males (de Game, Columbus, Cook, etc.—all the usual suspects). Newer ones have often broadened to include, say, Zhen He, whose vast armada of huge ships has come more to the forefront in the past decade or so. But I haven’t seen many texts on the topic (or honestly, any that I can recall) that introduce such a broad range of people, cultures, and regions. DK has always been one of my favorite non-fiction publishers for young readers and this book is just yet another example of the excellent work they do.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great general culture educational children's book in perfect balance with the illustrations.

The content has a wide selection of well-known and lesser-known historical figures, both from the old world and the new, among them some very capable and fearless women who broke standards, credit is given to a couple of little-recognized figures, however, with essential participation. These historical figures are important for their valuable observations, discoveries, record of events, and undoubtedly stand out for their courage, determination, to go beyond their mental, physical and even cultural limits.

Some events mentioned here took a decisive turn in history, which changed the lives of entire countries and even continents, the world economy and even have their effect to this day.
I consider and recommend this educational material, presented with very good quality, with information on elemental culture for children's understanding of important events that shaped the current world they inhabit. They can also clearly visualize in these characters one of the most characteristic features that define our humanity: the need to explore and recreate ourselves, the penetrating curiosity and thirst to know the cosmos we inhabit, the concern to break our limits and borders, ... characteristics that are expressed from childhood and that many times as educators (traditional educational system discourages) we fail to develop in our children.

My sincere appreciation to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book coming in at only 144 pages, it packs a lot of punch. Divided into 3 sections, by sea, land, and air with colorful pictures, maps and illustrations its the perfect introduction to exploration.

Each explorer is given 2 pages with a little bio and their achievements along with maps outlining routes plus extras like - tools, the dark side of exploration and even pictures of boats that show the various parts and functions along with storage and living quarters. Giving the reader a sense of living conditions.

There are famous explorers - James Cook, Lief Erickson, Marco Polo and Lewis & Clark and the not so famous - Zheng He and many more.

This book doesn't just go back in time to the discovery of new lands but talks about contemporary explorers - Jacques Cousteau, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh and even the Journey to the Moon, some that have passed and others still exploring this vast world.

This is a great book for the curious, adventurous and those wanting to know more about this great planet. Geared towards the Middle-Grade age, this adult found it very interesting and feels it would best be read in print form.

My thanks to the publisher (via Netgalley) for an advanced digital copy - best viewed using the Kindle app to enjoy the illustrations.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a beautifully illustrated book all about various explorers. The book is grouped by region explored (land, ocean, space, etc) and grouped by particular area in each section.

My favorite thing about this book had to be the drawings. I loved that there was a consistent style of illustration plus the addition of actual pictures made the book seem like a collage. I appreciated the maps. It was a great way to explain where the adventurers traveled.

This would make a fantastic gift for kids or your coffee table. Easy to read and understand the impact each person made. The end has a glossary and 4 pages of quick bios on people who couldn't make it into the feature.

If there was one thing I could change, it's to add additional information for kids you want to know more about someone mentioned. This book could lead very well into an app tie-in.

I received an ARC of this from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

The words "Explorers" and "Adventures" excite people of all ages and make them want to go on a journey to an unknown place.

This book is explained like an autobiography with gentle illustrations, images, and concise sentences.

French oceanographer JACQUES COUSTEAU has produced more than 100 TV documentaries under the sea, showcasing sea animals, coral reefs, sunken shipwrecks, and more.

It is also clearly described that adventurers not only had good aspects such as cultural exchange and trade, but also had a dark side.

For example, when explorers discovered new land 1,200 years ago, indigenous people were enslaved, their land occupied, and their freedom taken away.

There were often famines spread by rats and other animals from the ships of the adventurers.

There was also the sad fact that the Vikings, who came from Europe, hunted the fluffy bird called dodo, which inhabited the Indian Ocean and Mauritius Island, and the small elephant of Sri Lanka became extinct.

[McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

DK's new book Explorers provides dozens of highly-engaging biographical and historical views of famous and not-yet-famous explorers. Although the achievements of each explorer are highlighted, author Nellie Huang does not ignore the injustices done to the native people of each land "discovered" nor does she ignore that women have also explored the world. She directly addresses issues such as slavery, disease, and gender while keeping the material age appropriate and informational. The illustrations and layout are engaging, and the snippets at the end of the book of additional explorers just might inspire some informal research. I look forward to adding this book to our school collection and hope to use it next year for the 5th-grade unit on explorers.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and interesting book with compelling illustrations, photos and information. Perfect for children who are curious about history, culture, or world exploration, Explorers is like a picture book and a biography got together and had a baby. Each explorer gets his/her own section and I love how this book is organized.
I highly recommend this book for classroom or personal use.



** thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[clivey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succinct yet still providing a surprisingly comprehensive coverage of world explorers from ancient to modern times, Huang highlights a wide variety of people and honestly reveals the harm as well as the good that resulted from exploration. Combined with the illustrations and photographs, this book makes learning history and science seem more like a treasure hunt than homework. Plus, several of the stories spark inspiration, reminding you that limitations don't have to be the end of the story. (I will admit, a few tears were shed in the reading of this book.)

[Susan Graves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since my childhood, DK has been a strong leader in engaging and encouraging young minds to seek adventure and to learn more while in an exciting manner. Explorers fits perfectly into this line and was truly enjoyed by myself and my young readers in my home. Explorers follows the journey of 5o legendary names and helps us to learn more about the people and places involved. Excellent organization, beautiful illustrations and the story line felt natural and not forced.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-Done!

Details provided include the name of the explorer, his / her profession, birth & death dates (where applicable), and a brief narrative that tells a little about the explorer. Plus, there are timelines, color photos / illustrations, quotes, and more!

At the end, there is a "Where to Next?" section, plus 4 pages of More Adventures, a Glossary, and an Index.

Excellent!

[talesofkids]

This is a great book for kids! It not only has stories about different explorers from different countries, but also from different time periods! I love that it features men and women explorers. Love the illustrations! Love the maps in the book! Full of facts, wonder and discovery. Must Read!

[Katharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

AND WHY WASN'T THIS WONDERFUL BOOK AROUND WHEN I WAS NINE YEARS OLD?
Extraordinarily inclusive and beautifully illustrated introduction to the world's greatest explorers for grade-school children.
And where is a Matthew Henson movie, btw? Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, preferably? WHERE????!!!

[Esha Nas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few errors or omissions - like the Cortes seen as a god myth or ibn battuta not liking China toooo much, but the cutaways are neat and they do tackle many many explorers of many eras and nations, which is a nice relief from the “common” assortment

[Nimisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always amazed that I learn more from my son's picks of history than mine. This book gives credit to some of those who have not yet been acknowledged enough.

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and fascinating people and places to learn about. A really nice introduction to explorers both modern and I the distant past.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a nice addition to a library collection. It contains over 50 mini biographies of adventurers and explorers throughout history. It is not a definitive biography of any explorer by any means, and that's not the point of this book. I did appreciate the variety of explorers mentioned in the book, and especially the introduction to many explorers I had never heard of before. It will not help any students trying to complete a report for school, but would work splendidly as an introduction to many different explorers, and can be used as a starting point for further research.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to DK Children and NetGalley for a digital copy of this wonderful book!

I absolutely loved DK books when I was a kid and was giddy when I got approved for this. This is full of really cool facts about explorers and has some super neat pictures to go along with each page! I learned about explorers I had never even heard of. I appreciated that the author pointed out the negative impacts that explorers had when they entered new lands. It's important for kids to know all of the history of something, including the bad. Each page was short and sweet but still enough to get to know about the explorers. Kids will love this book!

[JenReviews4U · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! A very detailed book about alot of people achieving what others thought was impossible. I was impressed by the number of explorers they have in here and from all regions and time periods. Nicely illustrated with little snippets of their life and accomplishments and even some fun facts. Nice glossary of words for children who may not understand but are explained well and a good index. Overall I highly recommend this book for the grade school crowd. The only trouble I had was with the digital download of the book, for some reason it did not load up well and took a long time to flip through the pages, then the Adobe reader would stop working. For this title however, if I was buying it I would rather have the actual hard copy of the book rather than digital e-book because it is such a beautiful book. Thank you to DK Children for an advanced copy.