What Darwin Saw: The Journey That Changed the World

From Booklist
Fully illustrated with many colorful panels on each page, this large-format book introduces the life of Charles Darwin, beginning with his childhood and concentrating on his experiences during the voyage of the HMS Beagle, with some follow-up on his later life, especially the publication and response to the On the Origin of Species. Three different colors of print differentiate between quoted words (Darwin’s in brown; others’ in orange) and narrative text (in black). Though the pages have a “young” look, due in part to the naive style of the acrylic paintings, there’s plenty of information for older readers to absorb. The presentation ends with a double-page map showing the Beagle’s route and stops along the way. A source bibliography is appended, along with comments on the research, writing, and illustrations as well as a source note directing readers to an impressively meticulous Internet site where the quoted passages appear with changes (mainly abridgements) clearly indicated. Grades 3-6. --Carolyn Phelan