Helen Thayer's Arctic Adventure: A Woman and a Dog Walk to the North Pole

By Sally Isaacs and Iva Sasheva

This picture book tells the thrilling story of a woman from New Zealand who walked alone from Canada all the way to the magnetic North Pole; well, alone except for Charlie, the best and most protective dog on the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jan 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515714323

Book preview

Cover

Few people have walked to the magnetic North Pole. Especially alone.

In 1988, Helen Thayer decided to try. She was 50 years old at the time. She planned to walk 364 miles (585 kilometers) around the magnetic North Pole.

No woman had ever done so.

It took two years to research and train for the journey. To get her body ready, Helen ran, climbed, and kayaked nearly every day. To get her mind ready, Helen spent five days alone in the Arctic.

Finally, Helen packed her clothes and supplies. She flew to a tiny village in northern Canada.

When she told a local bear hunter her plan, he protested.

Don’t go alone! Tony warned. He worried about the fierce polar bears. You won’t see them, he said. They’ll come to your tent while you sleep.

But Helen wanted to go alone. She wasn’t concerned that she might feel scared. She

Reviews for Helen Thayer's Arctic Adventure

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Helen Thayer is a real person who wanted to be the first woman to travel alone to the Magnetic North Pole. She was convinced to take a dog, Charlie, but besides that she was alone. She trained herself by climbing various mountains and racing on skis, luge and kayaks. She braved freezing cold, polar bears, brutal winds, ice storms, and various injuries, but gritted her teeth and soldiered on. Charlie was her guard-dog and companion. He knew when it was too dangerous to travel and stayed tucked into the tent and protected her from a polar bear attack. This is a gripping adventure tale, loaded with situations and incidents, that never strays from its "you can do anything you set your mind to" message.

The book is very well written for the target audience. How many female centred, non-fiction, adventure tales for young readers can you name? It is brisk and direct, and nicely paced with scenes of danger broken up by scenes of wonder. It is easy to read but the vocabulary and writing style are sophisticated enough that this isn't a "kiddie" book. This is a great middle grade book, which just goes to show that picture books are not just for young children. The book is short and to the point, but it gets across the story and the message with style. The illustrations are a wonderful complement to the text to give just that much more realism and description.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.