Explorers

One of the great joys of being human is the joy of finding. Whether as a child you "discovered" the creek in your back yard, or as an adult you realized the road you always neglected was really a shortcut to work, uncovering new things can be downright exhilarating. Unless, of course, you uncover bad things, a situation many of the great explorers have found themselves in too often.

That doesn't keep them from seeking new territories, foreign rivers, inland passages—in fact, it's almost as if hardship and defeat spur them on to greater feats and attempts. Ernest Shackleton's trip to the South Pole was disaster upon cataclysm, but with each difficulty the crew's resolve became deeper and more determined. Shackleton and his men couldn't not explore: it was in their blood.

Now that we've been everywhere and done everything, exploration might seem like an anachronism. Man has climbed Mt. Everest, submarined to the deepest eel-infested parts of the ocean, and walked on the moon—what's a canoe trip down the Amazon or a stroll through the Outback? Maybe not much from that perspective, but when the whole big world is still unknown and largely inhospitable, shouldering a pack and a rifle and heading into the unknown takes one thing our age has precious little of: guts.

A lot of exploration was undertaken by missionaries eager to take the Word of God to every tribe and nation. The darker side of that is the European politicos who followed behind to exploit natural resources, native peoples, and each other. Either way, the story of exploration is a fascinating one, and a must-read if you expect to understand the current world economic and political situation.

Even more compelling than the story of exploration, however, is the story of the explorers themselves. Exploration is a picture painted with broad strokes, but when presenting the men themselves the artist must show the details, each weakness and virtue, each fear and desire, that made them brave scorpions, bloodthirsty hunters, desert sands, snow and ice, sickness, and death in the name of discovery.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
174 Items found Print
Active Filters: 6th grade (Ages 11-12)
Admiral Richard Byrd
Sterling Point Books
by Paul Rink
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Historical non-fiction for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Adventures and Discoveries of Marco Polo
World Landmark #3
by Richard Walsh
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
All That Glitters
Perspectives on History Series
by Phyllis Raybin Emert
from History Compass
Historical Non-fiction for 6th-9th grade
in California State (Location: HISA-19CGR)
Amelia Earhart
Sterling Point Books
by John Burke
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amelia Earhart
DK Biography
by Tanya Lee Stone
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart - Coloring Book
by Muriel Earhart Morrissey
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Beatrice Gormley
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99
Amerigo Vespucci
by Nina Brown Baker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Arctic Explorer
by Jeri Ferris
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grades
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Balboa, Finder of the Pacific
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Balboa:
by Jeannette Mirsky
from Harper & Row
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Balboa: Swordsman and Conquistador
World Landmark #25
by Felix Riesenberg, Jr.
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Black Whiteness
by Robert Burleigh
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Picture Book Biography for 4th-7th grade
1999 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Book of Famous Explorers
Young Folks Library
by Edwin Erle Sparks, editor
from Auxiliary Educational League
for 3rd-9th grade
in Vintage Anthology Collections (Location: VIN-ANTH)
Brendan the Navigator
by Jean Fritz
from Penguin Putnam
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Captain Cook: Pacific Explorer
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
by Beril Becker
from Kingston House
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence
by Esther Averill, illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Christopher Columbus
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Series
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
Sowers Biographies
by Bennie Rhodes
from Mott Media
for 4th-6th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
Makers of American History
by Calista McCabe Courtenay
from M. A. Donohue & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Christopher Columbus and His Brothers
by Amy Hogeboom
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Columbus and the Renaissance Explorers
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (3 in stock)
Commodore Perry in Japan
by Robert Reynolds
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Cortes and the Aztec Conquest
by Irwin R. Blacker
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Daniel Boone
by Daniel Boone
from Applewood Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Daniel Boone
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$11.99
Daniel Boone
Adventures in Frontier America
by Catherine E. Chambers
from Troll Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Daniel Boone
by James Daugherty
from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd.
for 4th-6th grade
1940 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Daniel Boone
by James Daugherty
1st edition from Viking Press
for 4th-6th grade
1940 Newbery Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Daniel Boone, Wilderness Scout
by Stewart Edward White, illustrated by James Daugherty
from Garden City Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Daniel Boone: The Opening of the Wilderness
Landmark #21
by John Mason Brown
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
David Livingstone
by Ben Alex
from Victor Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Davy Crockett
Landmark #57
by Stewart H. Holbrook
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
De Soto: Finder of the Mississippi
by Ronald Syme
for 3rd-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Discoverers of the New World
by Joseph Berger
from Troll Associates
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Discovery of the Americas
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$9.99
Drake: The Man They Called a Pirate
by Jean Lee Latham
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Elizabeth I and the Spanish Armada
Stories From History
by Colin Hynson
from School Specialty Publishing
for 2nd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
for 1st-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.99
Eric the Red & Leif the Lucky
by Barbara Schiller
from Avyx, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$4.50 (3 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
The American Story Series
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration and Conquest
by Betsy & Giulio Maestro
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration of Africa
by Thomas Sterling
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Explorer's Handbook
by Marilyn Tolhurst
from Dutton Children's Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Explorers & Discoverers - 4 Volume Set
from UXL Publishing
biographical encyclopedia for 5th-8th grade
in World History Reference (Location: HISW-REF)
$30.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers for God
by Nathan Aaseng
from Augsburg Fortress
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Dreher
from Tor Classic
Non-fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers Who Got Lost
by Diane Sansevere-Dreher, Illustrated by Ed Renfro
from Starscape
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
by Milton Meltzer
from Benchmark Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
World Landmark #31
by Seymour Gates Pond
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery of the World Ocean
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Finding the New World
by Walter Taylor Field
from Ginn and Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Francisco Coronado and the Exploration of the American Southwest
Explorers of New Worlds
by Hal Marcovitz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of the Inca
by Gina DeAngelis
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Latinos in American History
by Jim Whiting
from Mitchell Lane Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Book History of the United States
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States - 12 Volume Set
by Earl Schenck Miers, illustrated by Alton S. Tobey and Richard P. Kluga
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Golden Book History of the United States Volume 1
by Earl Schenck Miers
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Great Discoveries and Amazing Adventures
by Claire Llewellyn
from Kingfisher
for 4th-8th grade
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Great Explorers
by Joyce Grosseck & Elizabeth Attwood
for 4th-8th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Henry Hudson
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Josepha Sherman
from Rosen Central
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Henry Hudson
by Nina Brown Baker, illustrated by George Fulton
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$64.00 (1 in stock)
Henry M. Stanley
Lives to Remember
by Robert Edmond Alter
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Hernando de Soto and the Exploration of Florida
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Schliemann
by Laura Amy Schlitz
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
I Sailed with Columbus
by Susan Martin
Xlibrary Copy. from Overlook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Ice Bound
by Jerri Nielsen, Mary Anne Vollers
from Hyperion/Madison Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
In Their Own Words: Christopher Columbus
by Peter & Connie Roop
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
In Their Own Words: Lewis and Clark
by George Sullivan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Jed Smith, Young Western Explorer
by Olive W. Burt
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Joe Meek
by Shannon Garst
from Julian Messner
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
John and Sebastian Cabot
by Henry Ira Kurtz
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
John Charles Fremont
by Ronald Syme
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
John Charles Frémont
by Charles W. Maynard
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Journal of Augustus Pelletier
Dear America
by Kathryn Lasky
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Journey and Ordeal of Cabeza de Vaca
Dover editions
by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$10.95
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Louise Chipley Slavicek
1st edition from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Juan Ponce de Leon
by Nina Baker; illustrated by Robert Doremus
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Juan Ponce de Leon and the Search for the Fountain of Youth
by Daniel E. Harmon
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Kit Carson and the Wild Frontier
Landmark #53
by Ralph Moody
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage & Collectible (Location: VIN-COL)
Kit Carson: Folk Hero and Man
by Noel B. Gerson
from Doubleday & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
La Salle, River Explorer
Makers of America
by Alberta Powell Graham
from Abingdon Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Leif Eriksson
by Cynthia Fitterer Klingel, Robert B. Noyed
from Child's World
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Leif Eriksson
by Katherine B. Shippen
1st edition from Harper & Brothers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Leif the Lucky
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from University of Minnesota
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.95
Lewis & Clark Expedition
Spencer Press Landmark #5 (RH#15)
by Richard L. Neuberger
from Spencer Press
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Lost City
by Ted Lewin
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$8.99
Lost Star
by Patricia Lauber
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
12