Friday 30 October 2020
Review: Adventure Starts at Bedtime
Like a cinemascope reel, we can visualise through the descriptive narrative, the power of the elements, spine-tingling, terrifying treks through jungles, hailstorms, sandstorms, and forests.
Entries include aeronauts Abruzzo, Newman and Anderson, who made history in their helium balloon, travelling 5,000 kilometres east over the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.
Isabelle Eberhardt, a Swiss explorer, in 1899 crossed Africa dressed as a man to fulfil her dream.
She wasn’t the only woman to disguise herself this way. Jeanne Baret, botanist and explorer, 1766-1769, also disguised herself, to join an expedition around the world to discover new places and their plants.
Bessie Coleman was one of the best stunt pilots in the world. Aldo Kane, in 2017, climbed into a live volcano. Ernest Shackleton survived a shipwreck in the frozen Antarctic when his ship, Endurance, was trapped in ice.
Wilfred Thesiger wanted to be the first European to see the quicksands of Umm Al Samim, and Jon Krakauer survived the deadly storm on Everest.
Many of these expeditions and challenges undertaken were in desolate and extremely dangerous areas. Often the explorers were alone; other times only with their animals or guides.
It is not only human resilience and courage that is profiled here, but also the endurance of the animals and the teams that accompanied these explorers, and who often saved their lives.
Title: Adventure Starts at BedtimeAuthor: Ness Knight
Illustrator: Qu Lan
Publisher: Walker Books, $34.99
Publication Date: 1 August 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781916180550
For ages: 8+
Type: Anthology/Biography
