Sir Douglas Mawson is one of Australia’s best-known scientists and explorers and from 1984 till 1996 his face features on Australia’s $100 banknote. Mawson, a geologist, is best known for his Antarctic expeditions. His desire to go to Antarctica grew from his realisation that the rocks he was studying in Australia’s arid interior showed evidence of glaciers and what better place to go than Antarctica to study rocks in its glacier dominated landscape.
Douglas Mawson was part of four expeditions to Antarctica between 1908 and 1931. The first was with Ernest Shackleton in 1908, a harrowing experience from which Mawson declares he would never return there. But return he did, leading the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911. The book details the first two expeditions we learn of the deadly and arduous conditions, fatal accidents and loss of vital supplies and equipment. It is a fascinating account of Mawson and his companions exploring a dangerous and largely unknown continent. Their skill, courage and tenacity is admirable.
Peter Gouldthorpe’s photorealistic artwork bring this cold white inhospitable world to life. The large double-page spreads vividly portray the hardships encountered, violent wind, freezing temperatures, manually dragging heavily loaded sleds and vast distances traversed on foot and the always present danger of a crevasse suddenly opening up. Smaller black and white cross-hatched images are interspersed throughout.
The book’s jacket cover back and front opens to a complete image of Mawson, and the unending Antarctic landscape. At the back of the book are maps that detail the various exploratory expeditions undertaken by Mawson and his team. And while not specified, the endpapers have the appearance of a snowstorm, an always present hazard in Antarctica.
2014 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Eve Pownall Award for Information Books – Honour Book
Picture Books for Older Readers
