Whilst the story depicts scenes of death and hardship, it is not overall an emotionally difficult book to read (probably due to language and pace), and I believe would be suitable for anyone in Y4+. However, racism is a theme throughout and should, as always, be discussed in a sensitive manner with children. year old Nathaniel is a slave, sent to England. Life in London is tough and Nat seizes the first opportunity to escape. He hears the story of The Zong, a ship where the crew murdered 133 slaves. Will the world continue to turn a blind eye to the horrors of slavery? And can Nat really evade his masters forever? 9+ Sophie’s new home is a modern blue bungalow in a tiny village in Wales. It’s a long way from London and her friends, and a long way from Dad. It might be all right, she thinks, for ‘what I did in the holidays’, but not for living in forever. It gets worse when Sophie starts hearing the breathing at night. Then the ghost appears – dressed in rags and smelling awful but insisting that she is someone special. The last thing Sophie needs right now is to be haunted. I really enjoyed reading this book because although the book was mainly based on a person and not on the history, I still understood a lot about the racism and discrimination at that time.The plot of the book was really exciting because of all the twists in the storyline and all the different places in which the book took place.What stood out to me the most is that the author described everything so well and with so much detail that I actually felt as if I was there. Out of all the characters I think Janey is the most interesting because if it wasn’t for her then everything could have turned out differently. As well as Janey, I loved the main character, Matthew Henson. I found it intriguing how he started as an orphan and ended up being the first man to reach the North Pole. I would definitely recommend this book to other students aged 8 – 12 as well as to pupils who enjoy reading about travel.

Race to the Frozen North: The Matthew Henson Story

Catherine Johnson is a British author and screenwriter. She has written several young adult novels and co-wrote the screenplay for the 2004 drama film Bullet Boy. I found the plot very factual, chronological, and to-the-point instead of light-hearted and exciting but interesting all the same, especially as it was told from the point of view of Matthew himself, not in the third person like most books of this style are. I liked the fact that the first person perspective meant you understood the friendships Matthew developed with the people he met in his life like the Eskimos he went to the pole with. The thing that stood out for me the most from the book was the fact that Matthew got no recognition for reaching the North Pole first until fifty years after doing so. Reading the book, I felt sorry for Matthew and wished he had been praised sooner after making such a huge achievement. I would definitely recommend the book to a friend because it has a great factual plot told with an excellent perspective that shows the innermost thoughts of Matthew through his entire life and of the harsh treatment he endured before becoming the first man to reach the North Pole. This book teaches you quite a lot about the history of the end of the 18th century to the mid-19th century in America. For example: Most white people were very discriminative towards dark-skinned people and didn’t treat or pay them well. I also learnt how important culture was for most people and being part of some sort of family: like when Matthew met Ikwah and they realised that their skin colour was the same shade and felt part of some sort of family. Although as a history based book, I didn’t find much history based topics within the book. I’m not sure if I’d recommend it although other students that have read the book have different opinions.Matthew Henson was simply an ordinary man. That was, until Commander Robert E. Peary entered his life, and offered him a chance at true adventure. Henson would become navigator, craftsman, translator, and right-hand man on a treacherous journey to the North Pole. Defying the odds and the many prejudices that faced him to become a true pioneer. This is his incredible and often untold story. Matthew Henson was simply an ordinary man. That was, until Commander Robert E. Peary entered his life, and offered him a chance at true adventure. This Matthew Henson Reading Comprehension Activity contains a range of printable worksheets which you can use as part of your lesson plan covering the topic of arctic explorers. There are three versions of this reading comprehension activity included in the resource, so you can choose which of these resources best suits the needs of your class. Johnson was born in London, England, in 1962. Her father was Jamaican and her mother was Welsh. Johnson grew up in North London and attended Tetherdown Primary School. Later she studied film at St Martin's School of Art, before turning to writing.

Race to the Frozen North: The Matthew Henson Story: 1

Each lesson begins with an exploration of new vocabulary that children will be exposed to in that lesson. and some handy recs and my top list of Historical PoC here at the Bibliomanic here and here at The Reading Fangirl Sawbones won the 2014 Young Quills Award for best historical fiction for over 12s. It has been shortlisted for the Rotherham Book Award, the Salford Children’s Book Prize and the Hoo Kids Book Award. Matthew is best known for being an early explorer and he is thought to have been the first person to reach the North Pole. He was born on the 8th August 1866 in Maryland in the USA and took part in many expeditions to the North Pole and Greenland.

Loved this! Fascinating insight to Matthew Henson who was lost in history. Thank you Catherine for bringing his story to life. Sawbones A forensic murder mystery set in 1792. Ezra McAdam is apprenticed to a top London anatomist and surgeon and can read a dead body as well as you or I might read a book. But when an unusual body arrives for dissection, events spiral out of control. Ezra meets Loveday Finch, hot tempered magician’s assistant and together they unearth a trail of murder and international secrets… A sequel to Sawbones set in Revolutionary Paris. Young surgeon Ezra McAdam must hasten to Paris to rescue his friend Loveday Finch and her charge Mahmoud, the Ottoman prince, who have been caught up in the Revolution. On the way, Ezra experiences the war first hand on the battlefields of Northern France, where his surgical skills are in high demand by the beleaguered French army. Meanwhile, in Paris, the guillotine is busy, and the medical world is finding the surfeit of bodies useful to its research into the seat of life. Ezra is not persuaded by the controversial theories of his French colleagues, but his mind is on other matters. Finding Loveday and Mahmoud is proving harder than he had imagined: it would appear that Paris really is the most dangerous place on earth. Ezra’s search takes him from the grand Hotel Dieu to the dark catacombs below the city; from the opulent War Office to the tall, forbidding Conciergerie – the city prison – here he must undertake the most audacious rescue attempt of all. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. It was really informative to learn about the trials Matthew had to go through to even get to the North Pole, but also afterwards where his accomplishment was constantly overshadowed by his white peers. It took years before he was seen as equal, and even years after his death for people to give him the hero's burial he deserved.