Hudson <small> by Janice Weaver<br/> David Craig (Illus.) </small>

Janice Weaver's Hudson is an interesting and quick paced history of the explorer that is really reader-friendly.

She immediately grabbed my attention by her lively prose and the fact the she didn't waste my time boring me with dates, but instead focused upon those things that students of history, or beginning history readers, are going to find interesting. Things like scurvy, rebellion, scheming, starving, being shot through the neck with an arrow, and jail time.

Since I was trained as an historian I can be pretty critical as to how material is handled, but I've got no complaints here. The author doesn't just pretend that we know everything there is to know about Hudson, the way some textbooks do. Instead she explains to the reader that there are large gaps in Hudson's timeline, and that we don't even know what he looks like.

At the end Ms. Weaver further endeared herself to me by suggesting that young readers look to the primary sources of Hudson's time -- like Hudson's and Juet's logs -- rather than other textbooks. This is the only way, in my opinion, to ever grow a love of the study of history.

THE SKINNY:::
Hudson is a beautiful book. The cover is especially nice as it has full color images just like the jacket, instead of being just plain with a title. The jacket is really cool in that there's an excellent map of Hudson's voyages on the inside.

Ms. Weaver presents a quick, but thorough mini-history of Hudson that focuses on the important aspects of his journeys and the reasons for them, rather than boring old dates. She does a good job of making the dangers and discomfort of those early sea voyages come alive.

I like that there are breakouts in this book which discuss side-issues like scurvy, whaling, and mermaids.

The approach is kid-friendly and would be suitable for history classes or anyone interested in Hudson.

Pam
Somewhere in the X-burbs

Hudson