Students LOVE reading books about Antarctica!
Did you know that Friday, December 1st is Antarctica Day? Or that Antarctica Day is one of only two principal holidays in Antarctica, the other holiday being Midwinter Day in June?
Antarctica Day is an international celebration of the signing of the Antarctic Treaty on Dec. 1, 1959. Since no single country actually “owns” Antarctica, this treaty regulates international relations concerning Antarctica.
Want to make an Antarctica book display in the library? Download a free display poster (editable) from my Shared Google Drive! (go to the Librarians folder – Posters and Signs – Antarctica)
FIVE BOOKS ABOUT ANTARCTICA FOR KIDS AND TEENS
All five of these Antarctica books received at least two positive professional reviews on Titlewave. All feature Antarctica settings.
The Indestructible Tom Crean by Jennifer Thermes
Recommended for: Grades 2-5
©2023
56 pages
At the turn of the twentieth century, Antarctica is the last unexplored continent. The ice is unforgiving. It can break the human spirit. It takes many men willing to face hardship, danger, and years away from home to journey to this uncharted end of the earth. This is the story of one. His name is Tom Crean.
The Indestructible Tom Crean reveals the incredible true stories of Crean’s adventures on the Discovery, Terra Nova, and Endurance expeditions.
He hauls eight-hundred-pound sleds full of supplies, escapes from drifting ice floes, and trudges miles alone across a treacherous ice shelf.
When the Endurance becomes trapped in the frozen sea and sinks, it is up to Crean and several others to go for help. They sail a tiny lifeboat through the most violent seas in the world and cross a daunting glacial mountain range by foot in order to save their fellow explorers.
Life in a Frozen World: Wildlife of Antarctica by Mary Batten
Genre: informational picture book
Recommended for: Grades 1-5
©2020
40 pages
From award-winning, experienced nature writer Mary Batten comes a remarkable nonfiction picture book that plumbs the mysteries of this hostile environment. With clear, engaging language, Batten explores fascinating questions that scientists the world over have been researching, such as how a wide variety of wildlife can survive in this frigid environment and how Antarctica might be the key to long-standing questions about the Earth and climate change.
New York Times bestselling illustrator Thomas Gonzalez brings Batten’s text to life with detailed, realistic paintings.
An ideal resource for young science lovers and educators, this informative volume is perfect for classroom units on climate change, conservation, ecology, oceanography, and more.
Ice! Poems About Polar Life by Douglas Florian
Genre: poetry
Recommended for: Grades 1-4
©2020
48 pages
The remote North and South Poles — which poet Douglas Florian calls our “Earth refrigerator” — are home to a wide variety of unusual, rarely-seen creatures including caribou, penguins, ptarmigans, narwhals, and many more! Young readers will love learning about these polar denizens and the ways they’ve adapted to their cold, windy, frozen environments.
Whimsical, colorful art and humorous poems introduce more than a dozen polar animals, and touch on the unique characteristics of the polar regions. Funny and educational, the book ends with an inspiring call to action about climate change, reminding us of our responsibility to take care of our planet.
Ice! Poems About Polar Life explores key scientific concepts such as animal adaptation, biomes, global warming, and interdependence in poems filled with rhyme, rhythm, figurative language– and a huge dose of humor! Artist and author Douglas Florian is well-known for combining poetry, art, and science in books that have wit, imagination, and an aesthetic sensibility.
Race to the Bottom of the Earth: Surviving Antarctica by Rebecca E. F. Barone
Genre: narrative nonfiction, world history
Recommended for: Grades 4-8
©2021
262 pages
In 1910, Captain Robert Scott prepared his crew for a trip that no one had ever completed: a journey to the South Pole. He vowed to get there any way he could, even if it meant looking death in the eye. Then, not long before he set out, another intrepid explorer, Roald Amundsen, set his sights on the same goal. Suddenly two teams were vying to be the first to make history―what was to be an expedition had become a perilous race.
In 2018, Captain Louis Rudd readied himself for a similarly grueling task: the first unaided, unsupported solo crossing of treacherous Antarctica. But little did he know that athlete Colin O’Brady was training for the same trek―and he was determined to beat Louis to the finish line.
The Impossible First: An Explorer’s Race Across Antarctica (Young Readers Edition) by Colin O’Brady
Genre: memoir, survival, narrative nonfiction
Recommended for: Grades 6+
©2020
288 pages
Prior to December 2018, no individual had ever crossed the landmass of Antarctica alone, without support, and completely human-powered. But Colin O’Brady was determined to do just that—even though ten years earlier a tragic accident raised doubts that he’d ever walk again normally.
O’Brady’s quest drew him into a head-to-head battle with British SAS Captain Louis Rudd—also striving to be “the first.”
Enduring Antarctica’s sub-zero temperatures and pulling a sled that initially weighed 375 pounds in complete isolation and through a succession of whiteouts, storms, and a series of near disasters, O’Brady journeyed 932 miles to a world first.
Honest, deeply moving, filled with moments of vulnerability—and set against the backdrop of some of the most extreme environments on earth, from Mount Everest to Antarctica—The Impossible First reveals how anyone can reject limits, overcome immense obstacles, and discover what matters most.
Looking for more “5 Books” lists + display posters? Check out these two previous posts:
Need a lesson to go with the display? Don’t miss my Antarctica Storytime for Grades K-3:
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