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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Professor Sherman has a rather unique retirement plan: set off to balloon around the world, all by himself. He has a giant balloon made with a wicker house in lieu of a basket, studies, plans and provisions, ends teaching arithmatic to children, and on August 15, 1883, he takes off from his home town of San Francisco with little fanfare. He expects to be gone a year, letting the winds take him where they will, but at least initially across he Pacific Ocean. Three weeks later, he's pulled from the Atlantic just west of England, barely alive, surrounded by bits of wreakage and 20 deflating balloons. Once recovered, he tells his story and it is a doozy.
Most of the story involves his forced landing on Krakatoa just days after leaving the US, where he finds a most unusual, even fantastical settlement of 20 American families. It's quite imaginative and something I imagine children just adore reading about. I certainly would have, given how fascinated I was by the tale of the Swiss Family Robinson. But alas, we barely get a tour of this fantasy when Krakatoa erupts, on August 26, 1883.
This was a lot of fun, even all the fantastical inventions and plot devices woven around ballooning and the biggest volcanic eruption in history. The copy I read was heavily illustrated with ink drawings that alas, were poorly digitally transferred into my ebook, often looking like little more than black blobs of ink. Some day I'll have to leaf through a printed version to see how good they really are. Given how high quality the digitization of graphic novels and comics are, I have to knock at least a star off my rating for the poor quality.
Most of the story involves his forced landing on Krakatoa just days after leaving the US, where he finds a most unusual, even fantastical settlement of 20 American families. It's quite imaginative and something I imagine children just adore reading about. I certainly would have, given how fascinated I was by the tale of the Swiss Family Robinson. But alas, we barely get a tour of this fantasy when Krakatoa erupts, on August 26, 1883.
This was a lot of fun, even all the fantastical inventions and plot devices woven around ballooning and the biggest volcanic eruption in history. The copy I read was heavily illustrated with ink drawings that alas, were poorly digitally transferred into my ebook, often looking like little more than black blobs of ink. Some day I'll have to leaf through a printed version to see how good they really are. Given how high quality the digitization of graphic novels and comics are, I have to knock at least a star off my rating for the poor quality.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Jun. 2023: 3⭐️
ah, whimsical colonialism
ah, whimsical colonialism
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can't believe I didn't read this as a kid! Loved the adventures along the way! Great characters.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was really slow at the beginning for me but then got interesting once the main character FINALLY got around to telling his adventure. I would recommend this one to kids who are creative and into fun/silly inventions.
1948 Newbery Medal Winner
1948 Newbery Medal Winner
I read this book at least half a dozen times when I was a kid. I loved the adventure, the whimsy, and the fun of utopian Krakatoa. What kid could resist the adventures of an inventive math teacher who rejects his career to travel across the Pacific in a giant balloon contraption? It's a pre- Up! balloon travel/mysterious island/adventure without the horribly depressing opening sequence.