Magellan's World

by Stuart Waldman, Gregory Manchess (Illustrator)

The first voyage around the globe was a daring, high-stakes gamble that changed the world forever. Portugal dominated the wildly lucrative spice trade, and Spain was desperate for a piece of the action. Spain had everything to gain. Portuguese officer Ferdinand Magellan had nothing to lose. His decades fighting for Portugal had left him with a crippled knee and his king's withering scorn. And so Magellan left Portugal to lead an expedition for his country's bitter rival, Spain. He knew it would be an exceedingly dangerous voyage, but the reality proved much worse. Killer storms, mutinies, deadly battles, murders, deprivation and disease dogged the four-year journey. Magellan was driven to ever-greater extremes of brilliance, courage, brutality and madness as he sailed around the world. Magellan's World is the story of a harrowing adventure, an inspiring and flawed hero, and an epic event in the history of the world.

Genres: History, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biography, Religion

48 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2007

About the author

Stuart Waldman is a writer and editor. His Great Explorers book We Asked for Nothing: The Remarkable Journey of Cabeza de Vaca won a Notable Children's Book Award from the International Reading Association. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

[Kami · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fascinating!!! Stuart Waldman needs to write 20 more of his picture/history books. My kids and I love them. The paintings/illustrations are incredible. It reads more like a history book than a kids story which I'm so grateful for. Yay for historical accuracy!!!!! No person was vilified and no one was sainted (hallelujah!), the grim details weren't removed to make it "kid-friendly", and no personal spin was added. I hate books like that. Anyway, this story is fabulous on its own with spies, assassins, mutinies, starvation, storms, etc. Oh, and scurvy--the description of the effects of scurvy definitely had my children's attention. So definitely recommend, although it's too long to read all in one sitting out loud.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough that I read it to my 2nd grade audience, but I edited out a LOT as I read. The pictures are beautiful but instead of highlighting the good parts of the story, they mostly highlight the tragedies. I wish this book also had cut out about half the text to make it more accessible for elementary readers.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once again picked up a children's book by the team of Stuart Waldman and Gregory Manchess for I found their prior collaboration, The Last River: John Wesley Powell and the Colorado River Exploring Expedition, excellent. In this book, we learn of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese sailor and explorer who wished for funds to travel to the Molucca Islands (Indonesia) for its lucrative spice trade. Turned down by King Manual I, he ends up getting funded for five ships by Spain's Charles I, and he set sail in 1519 to find a faster route to the islands. The expedition was plagued with mutiny, dissent and foul weather but eventually landed in the Philippines. Magellan never completed his entire journey, for he ended up dying during a battle with island natives when he insisted on trying to convert them all to Christianity. Only 90 of the original 270 sailors arrived home three years later, but Magellan's name lives on for he did discover new routes of travel and this knowledge improved maps for years to come.

These Great Explorers Books are geared for older youth and share fascinating information about forgotten periods of history. But it is Manchess's oil paintings that elevate the books, for he brings history to life with his outstanding art. That his name isn't on the outside of the book (or in this Goodreads entry) is a disgrace.

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, interesting story. Good pictures, loved the maps. Wish every page had a picture

[Jayetta Carter-mcfarlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be on the shelf of social studies classrooms. The book is an easy read and it dives into the historical acounts of what happened when Magellan led the first fleet around the world. Even though he did not complete the voyage because he was killed in battle, 90 of the 270 men who started with him did return. Their accounts of the voyage changed the world maps that the cartographers still drew incorrectly that showed the world to be much smaller than it actually is, even after they found out about North and South America. The book has many photographs that can help ELLs understand the story too.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read compared to chapter books on Magellan, though a bit short on info. Beautiful paintings accompany this version of Magellan's voyage.

[Joni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very engaging book, made a great story out of history. We loved the included maps. I left out some gory details in my read aloud, but otherwise we all enjoyed it.