Black Whiteness: Admiral Byrd Alone in the Antarctic

by Robert Burleigh, Walter Lyon Krudop (Illustrator)

Overview

In 1934, Admiral Richard Byrd spent an entire winter by himself in a small cabin in Antarctica, recording the weather and confronting life, completely alone, in harsh conditions. Robert Burleigh “paints mesmerizing word pictures” (Booklist) that are supplemented with excerpts from Admiral Byrd’s firsthand account of how he survived. This riveting account was named an Orbis Pictus Honor Book and includes dramatic, full-color illustrations capture the courage of Byrd’s amazing ordeal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442453340
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	11/05/2011
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,080,075
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	650L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Robert Burleigh is the award-winning author of many books for children, including The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn, illustrated by Barry Blitt; Night Flight, illustrated by Wendell Minor; Black Whiteness, illustrated by Walter Lyon Krudop; and Sylvia’s Bookshop, illustrated by Katy Wu. His many other books include Hoops; Stealing Home; and Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep! He lives in Michigan.

Walter Lyon Krudop was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1966. He had his first painting lesson when he was eight years old and later studied illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He has illustrated a number of books for young readers, including The Good-Night Kiss and Wake Up, Little Children by Jim Aylesworth; Black Whiteness by Robert Burleigh; and Crossing the Delaware by Louise Peacock. He lives with his wife, Sara, in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

Burleigh (Flight) turns his attention from Charles A. Lindbergh to Admiral Richard Byrd in this picture book charting of the explorer's solo Antarctic sojourn. Burleigh's account follows Byrd to the underground hut where he lived for nearly six months, beginning in March 1934, and made scientific observations about his surroundings. Krudop's (Something Is Growing) evocative oil paintings, with their swirling brushstrokes and chilly palette of subdued blues, grays and blacks, suggest the remote continent's frozen landscape. The alien world is enthralling, with its cold so extreme that ice coats Byrd's sleeping bag and he can hear his breath freeze as it floats away, "making a sound like firecrackers." Burleigh's vivid descriptions, combined with lively excerpts from Byrd's journal, allow readers to experience it almost firsthand; they can feel for themselves the "eerie silence" in which Byrd lived, sense his panic at being trapped outside in a blizzard and cheer him on in his courageous struggle to survive carbon monoxide poisoning. Vigorously written and gracefully illustrated, this lively snapshot of one of the 20th century's most intrepid scientists records a landmark event rarely examined in children's books. Ages 7-12. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 3-4Byrd's solitary sojourn at Little America during the unimaginably cold, dark Antarctic winter of 1934 is captured in a lyrical text strengthened by dramatic, impressive paintings. For almost six months, Byrd endured that frozen desert with none of the comforts today's Antarctic scientists enjoy, while accumulations of carbon monoxide seeped into his very bones. This simply written version, embellished with slightly edited quotes from Byrd's personal record, Alone (Putman, 1938; o.p.), reveals to young readers the determination and courage of a human spirit's persistent survival under horrific conditions. Using Black Whiteness with Michael McCurdy's Trapped by the Ice (Walker, 1997) would add an extremely human touch to classroom studies of the antarctic, and demonstrate the risks taken by scientific explorers in the early 20th century.Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

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