Alison Lester Books

This quality hardback, with its tactile cover, would grace any school foyer, library or bedroom bookshelf. It conveys a real sense of adventure, shared by the authors and explorers who have experienced Antartica in the raw, thanks to the stunning illustrations and often poetic prose.

It’s factually fascinating, as well as comical in places (for example the wanted poster for Carol’s lost toy mouse; not to mention fish whose appearance is laughable, and talk of Weddell seals sounding like an electronic orchestra), and is dotted with references to famous names (e.g. Shackleton) and literature (e.g. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner) and traditions (e.g. reverencing Neptune).

In addition to using a range of scientific vocabulary (e.g. anthropogenic, isobars, pertinacity), the book also evokes a response which invites rich description: impressive, sculpted, surreal, perilous, dazzling, ethereal, opalescent and immense. At times, you want to be there, in a place ‘so dry that, when you walk on rocks, they tinkle like fairies’ bells,’ but at others (in a Force 11 gale), you’re glad you’re not.

These features, together with its visual appeal, make Into the Ice a great prompt for storytelling and, although it appeals to a wide age range, it is a peephole into the world of deserts and explorers, which are covered in the KS1 curriculum. It concludes with an urgent message for us all – we must take care of Antarctica!