Tara Gray

Space and Antarctic Exploration:

A Comparative Journal of Children’s Literature

Introduction

Exploration has captured the imaginations of millions of readers throughout history.  However, none have been quite as enraptured by the excitement of setting off for the unknown as children.  Perhaps it is because the mere act of growing up is in itself a type of exploration, they are setting off for “uncharted waters,” the unknown territory of the years ahead. Stories of exploration and themes of discovery are woven throughout the genre of children’s literature.  Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, the Curious George series, C.S. Lewis’ Alice in Wonderland and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well as Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret? deal with exploring a new world, in their imaginations, their dreams or their real lives.  It is in the imagination of a child that we can find the hopes and dreams of the explorers of tomorrow.  Dreams of Antarctic exploration danced in the minds of children 100 years ago while dreams of space exploration dance in the minds of children of today.  It is for these reasons and many others not listed here that I chose to compare the literature of space exploration and the literature of Antarctic exploration for this journal. 

            Within this journal I review eight books, four on the subject of space exploration and four on the subject of Antarctic exploration.  The space exploration books I reviewed are, Future Space: Beyond Earth by David Jefferis, illustrated by Sebastian Quigley; Can You Hear A Shout in Space? Questions and Answers About Space Exploration by Melvin and Gilda Berger, illustrated by Vincent Di Fate; Footprints on the Moon by Alexandra Siy, photos from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and First on the Moon by Barbara Hehner, illustrated by Greg Ruhl.  The Antarctic exploration books I reviewed are: Antarctica: Journey to the Pole, A Novel by Peter Lerangis; Antarctica: Land of Endless Water by Michael George; Trial by Ice: A Photobiography of Sir Ernest Shackleton by K.M. Kostyal, photos from The National Geographic Society and Spirit of Endurance by Jennifer Armstrong, illustrated by William Maughan. One of each type is fictional, one is factual, the last is an illustrated picture book of a true story and one is a true story illustrated with actual photos.

Background

History of Space Exploration

 

Manned space exploration officially began on April 12, 1961, with the launch of Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.  The United States followed very shortly thereafter with the launch of Alan Shepard on May 5, 1961 and with that the space age was born.    However, the dream of manned exploration began far earlier than 1961. Interest in space on a scientific and philosophical level began at the dawn of civilization. Greek, Babylonian and Egyptian astrologers and philosophers made observations of constellations, the movement of various celestial bodies, and other astronomical events.

During the Scientific Revolution, the observations of early astronomers Galileo and Kepler came to a unique confluence with remarkable new insights into laws governing planetary motion discovered by Newton.  Newton's conclusions about gravitational forces revealed the fascinating possibility of leaving the earth and venturing into the solar system and beyond.  Later, such visionaries as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a Russian teacher, Hermann Oberth, a German mathematician, and Robert Goddard, an American physicist wrote books and performed intricate mathematical and physical studies on the feasibility of rocket travel into outer space.  Goddard, who is known as the Father of Modern Rocketry, designed and launched the world’s first liquid fueled rocket in 1926.   The early 20^th century saw the influx of rocket societies across Europe and North America.  The most notable of these societies was the Society for Rocket Travel based in Germany, founded by Oberth. 

Following World War I and the Treaty of Versailles, the new German government looked to the hobbyists in the rocket societies for new ideas for weaponry outside of those weapons outlined in the punitive treaty.  People who initially became interested in rocketry as a hobby now found themselves conscripted into the service of the Nazi party to build rockets for the Third Reich.  By the advent of World War II, Hitler and the Nazi government sent the rocket scientists to Peenemünde to design the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile.  The A-4, later renamed the V-2, was the product of their efforts.  Unfortunately, the V-2 did not prove to be the miracle weapon that the German government propagandized it as.  It did, however, prove to be quite a boon to the American scientific community when the German scientists and engineers, headed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, defected to the U.S. military as they were liberating Eastern Europe.  The Germans and their trainloads of rocket equipment were shipped to the United States and put under the control of the Army at Fort Bliss, Texas. 

The 1950s brought the Cold War, nuclear fear and the onset of the Korean War.  The Army moved von Braun and the rocket engineers to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, to study the plausibility of using rockets to deliver nuclear warheads from within the U.S. to targets deep within the Soviet Union. After the Korean conflict came to a close, the foci of studies on rocket power shifted from one of belligerence to one of peace. 

The International Geographical Year was a period of worldwide scientific study of the earth from mid-1957 through all of 1958 organized by the International Council of Scientific Unions.  The year was planned to coincide with a period of peak sunspot activity and several eclipses and was participated in by 66 nations.  Participating nations came together to discuss possibilities of contributions to the year.  The Soviet Union made their contribution very public with the launch of Sputnik on October 4, 1957.  The United States followed suit when von Braun and the Army launched Explorer I toward the end of January 1958.  The race for technological superiority was on and the final destination was the moon. 

By 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were walking on the moon, the Soviet space program’s primary emphasis shifted to long duration spaceflight and space stations and the race was over. Many would argue, however, that the allure, the dream, the inexplicable draw of exploration, was just beginning, that that giant leap for mankind was merely a baby step toward the dream of those visionaries that went before.  The dreams that H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Hermann Oberth, Robert Goddard and Wernher von Braun dreamt of interplanetary travel began with that single step on the moon and continue on in the dreams of any child whose heart is captured by the excitement of exploration.

 

History of Antarctic Exploration

On December 14, 1911, Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole.  However, Antarctica has been enticing explorers for years long before Amundsen’s momentous discovery.  In 1773, Captain James Cook and the crew of his vessels Resolution and Adventure became the first men to cross the Antarctic Circle. During their expedition they circumnavigated Antarctica and were able to cross the Antarctic Circle three times.  Many explorers and whalers sailed around and close to the continent during the intervening years but no one landed until 1895 when the crew of the ship, the Antarctic, made landfall at Cape Adare. The pack ice that surrounds Antarctica imprisoned the ship Belgica in 1898.  The Captain Adrien de Gerlache and his crew involuntarily spent the first winter in Antarctica as their ship drifted aimlessly among the ice floes.  1902 saw the first serious attempt to reach the South Pole.  Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson left for the pole from McMurdo Sound and reached the furthest point south that anyone had ever achieved up to that point.  However, at 82 degrees south, they were forced to turn back and return to the ship.

            Scott and Shackleton returned to Antarctica on Scott’s British National Expedition and established a base on Ross Island in 1904.  The next year the International Geographical Congress elected to focus the energies of the scientific and exploration communities on Antarctica for the year thereby launching an age of government sponsored national expeditions by Britain, Germany and Sweden.  By 1907, Shackleton had returned to Antarctica on the Nimrod and set up the British Antarctic Expedition base camp on Ross Island.  During this trip, Shackleton and his men reached the South Magnetic Pole (different from true South Pole), attained the summit of Mount Erebus and in 1908, journeyed to within 150 kilometers of the true South Pole, the new “Farthest South Point.”  This would be the closest Shackleton would ever come to reaching his goal of setting foot on the South Pole. 

            Other men, as well, had dreams of polar glory.  In 1910 Roald Amundsen rocked the exploration community when he set out for the South Pole rather than the North Pole, as was officially announced by Norway. Likewise, Shackleton’s former captain, Robert Falcon Scott, set out for the South Pole in 1910, engaging in a race against Amundsen for the end of the earth.  December 14, 1911, Amundsen reached the South Pole after a short 57-day journey with four companions and 18 sled dogs.  Upon their arrival, they planted the Norwegian flag at the pole, left a letter for Captain Scott and returned to their camp without any calamities.  January 18, 1912, Captain Scott and his companions arrived at the pole to find the letter and the Norwegian flag.  Having been beaten by Amundsen by a mere 40 days, Scott and his men began their dispirited journey home, only to die 11 miles from the next supply depot. 

            Shackleton’s third and final expedition to Antarctica began with the grand plan of crossing the entire continent, a feat that had yet to be achieved.  However, the plan never came to fruition as their vessel, the Endurance was trapped for nine months and eventually crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea. Shackleton and the 28-man crew of the Endurance camped on the floating ice for five months before they were able to use the lifeboats they salvaged from the Endurance to get to Elephant Island.  No one perished on that “successful failure” but by 1922, Shackleton was dead of a heart attack on board the Quest en-route to his final expedition to Antarctica. 

            The Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration was over by the late 1920s but Antarctica has lost none of its appeal to adventurers, explorers and travelers. A New York travel agency began booking reservations for luxury cruises to Antarctica in 1965.  Beginning in 1977, Qantas flies day excursion flights over the continent out of Australia.  Private yachtsmen have sailed around the coast of Antarctica and a travel agency in California organized a 770-mile cross-country ski expedition, the first commercial journey of its kind.  Antarctica appeals to those with a wandering, seeking soul because of its accessibility and proximity.  Unlike space exploration, anyone with the means and the desire can organize or buy their very own expedition to the end of the earth.

Reviews

Jefferis, David, and Sebastian Quigley (illus.). Future Space: Beyond Earth. Italy:

Tangerine Press, 2001.

 

David Jefferis’ book, Future Space: Beyond Earth, deals with humanity’s future in space and ideas for a permanent presence in space.  He begins with a brief history of Russian/Soviet and American space stations, their role in the evolution of orbiting outposts and their purpose for existing.  He touches on ideas visualized by science fiction writers for gigantic wheel-shaped space stations and the reality of the Salyut stations, Skylab and Mir.  He goes on to examine the current space station under construction, the International Space Station.  He describes its size in terms that children, his primary audience, can easily understand, “a football field sized flying laboratory” (Jefferis, 6) and “inside there will be about the same amount of room as in a big airplane.” (Jefferis, 8).  The building process, he explains, is “like a giant-size model kit” (Jefferis, 8) because the ISS is made up of parts, modules, which clip together like a child’s toy.

            As the book continues, Jefferis spends some time elucidating the procedures through which the astronauts go in order to work outside of the craft.  Astronauts must go outside into the vacuum of space in order to link up the modules and make necessary cable connections.  In language a child can understand, he describes the technology which make these space walks or extra vehicular activities (EVAs) possible.  Living in space and negotiating the menial tasks of everyday life are much more challenging in a microgravity environment.  Not only are they able to overcome these physical and physiological hardships and live their lives, he outlines how the astronaut and cosmonaut ISS inhabitants perform intricate scientific experiments and life-saving biomedical and pharmaceutical research.

            Following this section, Jefferis moves on to suggest several ideas for a future permanent human presence in space. He covers the possibility of space tourism and the use of space stations as orbiting hotels.  Interestingly enough, this is one so-called “far fetched” idea that is becoming a reality with the flights of Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth on Russian Soyuz space crafts to the ISS.  Other possibilities he describes are space-based battle stations, space factories, space-based energy production units, lunar-based hotels, Martian colonies, space colonies, an orbital elevator and escape systems to evacuate Earth if need be.

            While the first half of the book is fact based, the second half is fictional, a collection of elaborate ideas about the possibilities of space in the not-so-distant future.  The illustrations are more like brightly colored, highly detailed scientific diagrams that are very eye appealing.  The language, while slightly technical, is on a level a child could understand and is able to successfully reach the target audience, thereby making this book very effective.  The section filled with ideas about the future stimulate the imagination and could very well inspire a new generation of space visionaries and explorers.

 

Berger, Melvin, Gilda Berger, and Vincent Di Fate (illus.). Can You Hear a Shout in

Space? Questions and Answers About Space Exploration. New York: Scholastic Incorporated, 2000.

 

 

By their very nature, children are very curious beings and one can be assured that if the topic of space is raised in a room full of children, there will be more questions than children.  Melvin and Gilda Berger’s book attempts to answer the most common questions about space exploration.  In the introduction, the authors explain their motivation behind writing a question and answer book.  “Everything we hear and see about space makes us curious to know more…read on if you’re curious—or if you dream of a trip to space one day!” 

            The questions are divided into topical sections, the first of which is “Steps Into Space” which includes questions that deal with where space starts, where it ends, how rockets work, basic historical questions and the title question, can you hear a shout in space?  Later sections include “Living in Space” which answers questions about astronauts in space and “The Uses of Space” which answers questions about satellites and commercial and military uses of space.  The final section, “The Future in Space” deals with questions of a slightly more abstract nature, such as kids going to space, people living in space cities and questions about Mars.

            This book appeals to children of a younger age than the previous book.  Rather than having to read through pages of narrative, young children are able to flip through the book and find answers to their questions without having to process the given narrative to come up with an answer.  The Vincent Di Fate’s art in this book rivals the work of other well-known science fiction artists such as Chesley Bonestell, Kim Poor and Atilla Hejia.  Each page has a painting of a different aspect of space exploration, they are accurate renderings yet they still retain some level of artistic integrity.  The concept and the art in this book make it extremely appealing to young readers and can serve as a primary reference source for a budding young space aficionado. 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siy, Alexandra. Footprints on the Moon. Watertown, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge

Publishing, 2001.

 

 

Footprints on the Moon by Alexandra Siy tells the story of arguably the greatest technological feat performed by man in modern history, the moon landing on July 20, 1969, and the subsequent flights through 1972.  Siy begins the tale by explaining the allure of the moon to her young readers, “Throughout the centuries, the Moon’s changing face has beckoned us silently.  We have looked and wondered, imagined and dreamed.” (Siy, 1). 

She goes on to explain the history behind humanity’s draw to our closest celestial neighbor by using basic information about and engaging photographs of the moon’s phases, astronomer Galileo Galilei and the tools of his trade.  Her target audience, children from the 4^th to 6^th grade levels has a very difficult time accepting something as truth without proof.  Siy provides valid, historical evidence without confusing the reader or overloading him or her with too much information.

            She continues with a condensed history of the evolution of flight from Orville and Wilbur Wright to the Mercury 7 astronauts.  She uses the history of flight as a stepping stone for the story of the astronauts that made it to the moon.  Each step that was taken from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903 to the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon in 1969 built on the one that went before it.  She effectively conveys this point to her readers with a concise overview of the 60+ years from Kitty Hawk up to the Apollo Program.  Her telling of the exciting tale of landing on the moon is not only historically accurate but entertaining, adventurous and engaging.  Her ingenious use of NASA photographs and vivid imagery have the ability to inspire the next Neil Armstrong or Wernher von Braun.

Hehner, Barbara, and Greg Ruhl (illus.). First on the Moon. New York: Madison Press,

1999.

 

            Barbara Hehner’s book, First on the Moon tells essentially the same story as Siy’s however, instead of using historical evidence and basic factual arguments, the story is told in narrative form, making this book appealing to younger children (3^rd grade and below).  She attempts to describe from a storyteller’s point of view, what it was like when man landed on the moon, for the astronauts and the families they left behind.  Hehner does something in this book that none of the others have done.  She incorporates general knowledge and facts in columns on the sides of several pages.  She explains space food, how the Saturn V rocket worked, becoming an astronaut, the “Space Race,” the logistics of getting to the Moon and back, Mission Control, lunar features, the Lunar Module, space suits, moon rocks, lunar gravity and reentry to Earth’s atmosphere.  She also includes a timeline of space milestones from 1957 to 1998.

            Because the story of the first moon landing is broken up into sections based on portions of the flight and interjects other interesting information, the reader is able to stay with the story and read the book from cover to cover in one sitting without getting bored or over informed.  The appearance of the book is unique in that it successfully combines art with NASA photographs, captivating the eyes and imagination of the young readers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lerangis, Peter. Antarctica: Journey to the Pole. New York: Scholastic Incorporated,

2000.

 

            Peter Lerangis’ novel, Antarctica: Journey to the Pole is the first installment in the Antarctica series of novels by Lerangis.  It describes a fictitious American expedition to Antarctica to enter the race for the pole in 1909.  The three main characters, Jack Winslow and his sons, Colin and Andrew, prepare for and make a journey to Antarctica and wind up finding out what each of them are made of.  The story utilizes details from actual Antarctic expeditions, such as those made by Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton.  For example, the description of the Winslow’s ship is strikingly similar to Shackleton’s journey south on the Endurance, “a hull thick enough to withstand the ice, a prow even thicker to batter icebergs without cracking, a steam engine and at least three masts” (Lerangis, 14).  That they bring dogs along instead of ponies or the like is a cue taken from the Amundsen expedition who used sled dog teams to become the first to the South Pole.  Finally, in a vein similar to the fate of the Scott expedition, Winslow and his companions are within a day’s walk of the ship when they come dangerously close to giving up and letting Antarctica take them. 

            The two teenage characters, Colin and Andrew, face issues that adolescent readers are able to identify with, sibling rivalry, death, growing up and facing the unknown. The reader learns that he or she is not the only person that has ever gone through what they are going through and that it can happen anywhere at any time.  The reader is also drawn into the story of Antarctic exploration by way of Lerangis’ descriptions of the landscape and the excitement of a journey into an unknown land, hopefully inspiring another generation to explore the unknown.

George, Michael. Antarctica: Land of Endless Water. Mankato, Minnesota: Creative

Paperbacks, 2002.

 

Michael George’s Antarctica: Land of Endless Water book is a factual, scientific text outlining the flora, fauna and geography of the world’s least explored continent.  The photographs used liberally throughout the book are stunning images of one of the most unusual collections of wildlife and landscapes ever found on Earth.  However beautiful the images of the snow and ice and natural phenomena are, the book is quick to remind its young readers that it a most unforgiving, forbidding place. 

            The book begins by describing the landscape of the continent, which, is in and of itself a misnomer.  Ice sheets up to 2 miles thick cover Antarctica so the only place one can actually see land is when one of the many Antarctic mountains comes into view.  The reader sees amazing images of strange looking icebergs and imposing mountains jutting up from out of the sea and can read about interesting facts dealing with the Antarctic landscape. 

            George pays careful attention to the wildlife and plantlife on Antarctica as well.  Several species of penguins are shown as are whales, seals and tiny wingless flies that feed off the moss and lichens that grow during the Austral summer months.  He concludes with a short section on the newly developed human presence on Antarctica.  Humans have been visiting the continent since the 19^th century, however it was not until recently that a permanent human presence was established.  He explains, “in a place where adventurers once struggled for survival, some people now make their homes.” (George, 25). 

            This book contains a large number of interesting pictures however the type is small and it tends to be over the heads of younger readers.  Unless used for a report I do not think that this book would be of very much interest to the average child.

 

Kostyal, K.M. Trial by Ice: A Photobiography of Sir Ernest Shackleton. New York:

Scholastic Incorporated, 1999.

 

            K.M. Kostyal’s biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton, Trial by Ice is very unique among the other Antarctica books reviewed in that it is the only one that uses actual National Geographic photographs taken from Shackleton’s expeditions to Antarctica.  The reader is given the opportunity to see how the men dressed and outfitted themselves, the sizes of the sleds and the immense size of geological phenomena that dot the continent.  The author uses notebooks and first person information to write a clear and concise representation of events that took place on the Shackleton expeditions.

            The book is effective in its appeal to children because the author includes information about Shackleton’s own childhood in Kildare, Ireland.  She uses experiences from the explorer’s past to explain why he was the way he was and did they things he did when he was an adult.  Getting children to see, much less understand, a connection such as cause and effect stretched out over a person’s life is a very difficult task.  However, by using events that children of today can identify with as something they could do or have done, makes Shackleton and his adventures come alive in their minds.

            The book is appealing to adult readers because of Kostyal’s ability to highlight the outstanding leadership qualities and intense charisma the explorer possessed.  Organizations and businesses are looking to Shackleton as an example of the qualities and skills desired in members and employees.  This book is an excellent jumping-off point for people seeking more information, especially visual information, on the Captain and his exploits.

           

Armstrong, Jennifer, and William Maughan (illus.). Spirit of Endurance. New York:

Crown Publishing, 2000.

 

Jennifer Armstrong’s picture book, Spirit of Endurance, details the journey of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the ill-fated Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition on the ship Endurance.  She describes the adventure of the trapped ship and marooned crew as “one of the most extraordinary survival stories in history.”  Although he failed at achieving his goal of being the first the cross the entire continent of Antarctica, Shackleton is remembered for his leadership, courage in the face of tremendous odds and for bringing home every one of his men alive.  Through maps, actual photographs from the expedition and oil paintings by William Maughan, Armstrong recounts the details of the harrowing 21-month experience. 

            Armstrong uses simple language that a primary school aged child could understand.  To hold their interest she includes a map to show the route the Endurance, the men and the lifeboats took and how long they stayed at each camp, she uses photographs taken by Shackleton’s official expedition photographer Frank Hurley and for the ultimate eye-appeal, the paintings of William Maughan.  The book itself is large enough for the detail in the pictures to show and for a young child to handle but the author and illustrator remembered the adults as well.  Adults are often the first people to read a picture book to a child.  This book’s fascinating story and stunning artwork is equally as entertaining for the adult as for the child.

 

Conclusion

The use of children’s literature in this study is unique in that most people consider literature of exploration to be a primarily adult genre.  Surprisingly enough, children’s literature of Antarctic exploration was far easier to find than that of adult literature.  Children seem to be so much more receptive to the idea and the possibility of exploration and discovery than adults.  For a child, everything new is something to be explored, to be learned about and there is always something else around the corner to discover.  Adults are far more cynical and jaded, they go through life with the “been there, done that” attitude which essentially eliminates the possibility of exploration and discovery.  Looking at the exploration of space and Antarctica from the point of view of a child showed me that anything is possible if a child thinks its possible.  Every time a child picks up a book about the first moon landing or Shackleton’s expeditions and learns something new, it’s like it is all being discovered anew.  This is a very refreshing idea to ponder in our “seen it all” society.

            If one were to continue this research it might be beneficial to explore children’s videos on space and Antarctic exploration.  There are several videos on the topic of space exploration such as “The Magic School Bus Gets Lost in Space,” and “The Brave Little Toaster on Mars.”  It would be interesting to do some research into the possibility of videos about Antarctica geared towards children.  I would also look into finding children’s websites available on the Internet that deal with these topics.

            There is an old song that says, “I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.”  I believe that the future of exploration is in the hands of the children of today.  If we teach them that they can explore new worlds by showing them those who went before them in books, movies and websites, then they will come to believe that they can do it.  As Shepard, Armstrong, Amundsen and Shackleton were once inspired by stories of the ancient explorers, stories of these men will inspire the explorers of tomorrow.  

Bibliography

Background on history of space exploration taken from personal knowledge and Countdown: A History of Space Flight by T.A. Heppenheimer (John Wiley Publishing, New York).

Background on history of Antarctic exploration taken from various websites:

Virtual Antarctica History: Chronology http://www.terraquest.com/va/history/chronology/chronology.html

Antarctica – Early Exploration

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/8947/explore.htm