The Indestructible Tom Crean: Heroic Explorer of the Antarctic

Antarctic explorer and seaman Tom Crean (1877–1938) overcomes icy challenges in this adventuresome picture book profile. Briefly referencing Crean’s upbringing in Ireland, Thermes features three polar expeditions with chapter-like introductions that include voyage years, Crean’s role, the journey goal, and a capsule map. Text jumps right into the frigid action with the subject’s decision to join the Antarctica-bound ship Discovery, which becomes trapped in ice for two years. Fast-forward six years to the Terra Nova (“Goal: to be the first to reach the South Pole”), for which Crean’s bravery in service of others wins him a medal. The drama continues at sea and on land during a final outing with Ernest Shackleton aboard the Endurance. Thermes provides a detailed narrative picture of the treks’ hardships, including the death of ship animals (“Frozen hands and frostbit feet. Salt water, sloshing. Rotting reindeer-skin sleeping bags”), through watercolor, colored pencil, and salt illustrations that gentle with their pale delicacy. Back matter includes an afterword, timeline, sources, and more. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)