Written by David Long, Illustrated by Kerry Hyndman
This book is really amazing. It’s got stories kids will have heard of and some they haven’t. The stories in this book just go to show how strong the fight to survive can be in some people. I read this with my 11 year old daughter and after reading, we’d often talk about if we’d survive or die. I most often chose death. There’s no chance my pain threshold is enough that I could cut off my arm to escape the slot canyons.
Kids may have a hard time reading about the tough living conditions and what people had to do to survive such as shooting sled dogs and eating them, but it’s also showing what people were willing to do. The only downside is there are no actual pictures of the survivors or the places these tragedies took place in, but the illustrations are pretty amazing. It would’ve been nice if there was more info about the people (if they died and when, what happened after, what their recuperation was like, etc).
Review by Allyson Rolfe, Granger El Media Center
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 5-8
Survivors: Extraordinary Tales From the Wild and Beyond
Written by David Long, Illustrated by Kerry Hyndman
Faber & Faber
184 pages
