Journeys: Tales of Travel and Trailblazers

Gr 4–6—This album for armchair travelers combines bold monochrome drawings of historical figures—often in heroic poses—with brief tributes to said figures' major achievements and spirit of adventure. Litton begins with explorations over water, from prehistoric Polynesians to the voyage of the Kon-Tiki, ends with a tally of high-tech excursions up to Apollo 11, and in between highlights long journeys over land by Ibn Battuta, Sacagawea, and their ilk, and ventures into polar territories like John Franklin's ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage. Along with adding less prominent travelers, such as Antarctic explorer Nobu Shirase and itinerant pacifist Satish Kumar, to the standard roster of explorers, the author expands the general premise with entries for Henry "Box" Brown, Che Guevara as a motorcycle tourist, and Tété-Michel Kpomassie. Still, the general level of detail is so shallow that some entries don't even include dates, and there are a few factual errors, too, such as dubbing Hannibal a "gladiator" and claiming that leprosy is not contagious. Moreover, Eurocentric references to "Unknown Asia" and "The Wild, Wild West" are echoed in generic representations of indigenous peoples' dress and features in some of the illustrations.