Pedro's Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3, 1492 - February 14 1493
Pedro can read and write better than any boy in the small Spanish town of Palos. That's why Christopher Columbus signs him on as part of his crew of the Santa Maria. The young Pedro records his adventures in a journal, where he also keeps sketches of what he sees during the treacherous journey across the Atlantic. Award-winning author Pam Conrad and illustrator Peter Koeppen create a thrilling and believable re-creation of one boy's account of this epic voyage.\ \ \...
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The cabin boy on the "Santa Maria" keeps a diary which records his experiences when he sails with Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492.Publishers WeeklyConrad's ( Prairie Songs ; My Daniel ) typically simple style and generous character treatments bring this boy's journal of Columbus's voyage to the ``Indies'' dramatically to life. Personalities and events that stand as icons in America's history are reduced to human size in Pedro's account of his experiences on the trip. He learns to swim off the side of the boat, he becomes a favorite of the Captain General , he feels sorry for the natives they take prisoner, and he hates the parrots brought aboard. Offering a narrow but deeply satisfying view of a momentous event, Conrad's interpretation of a now-500-year-old journal, accompanied by atmospheric and graceful pencil sketches, feels newly minted and immediate while it carefully preserves the wonder and excitement of that legendary voyage of discovery. Ages 8-12. (Dec.)
\ Publishers Weekly\ - Publisher's Weekly\ Conrad's ( Prairie Songs ; My Daniel ) typically simple style and generous character treatments bring this boy's journal of Columbus's voyage to the ``Indies'' dramatically to life. Personalities and events that stand as icons in America's history are reduced to human size in Pedro's account of his experiences on the trip. He learns to swim off the side of the boat, he becomes a favorite of the Captain General , he feels sorry for the natives they take prisoner, and he hates the parrots brought aboard. Offering a narrow but deeply satisfying view of a momentous event, Conrad's interpretation of a now-500-year-old journal, accompanied by atmospheric and graceful pencil sketches, feels newly minted and immediate while it carefully preserves the wonder and excitement of that legendary voyage of discovery. Ages 8-12. (Dec.)\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalGr 3-6-- Pedro, one of three ship's boys on board the Santa Maria, acknowledges that he was hired on not for his seamanship, but for his ability to read and write. Conrad uses the device of a journal to tell of his adventures with Columbus, a man whom Pedro admires, but who also engages in fiery rages and penitent Hail Marys. The details of mutinous murmurings, falling stars, and false land sightings that are described in Susan Martin's I Sailed with Columbus (Overlook, 1991), Miriam Schlein's I Sailed with Columbus (HarperCollins, 1991), and Genevieve O'Connor's The Admiral and the Deck Boy (Shoe Tree, 1991) appear in this narrative as well, but in a tighter, more concise telling. Pedro's journal is a vivid revelation of the details of the voyage as well as the time period. Readers see the boy's discomfort in the explorer's proprietary treatment of the natives and, in particular, his shame that these people are allowed to believe that the Spaniards are deities. Koeppen's line drawings, many of the ships and their equippage, add dimension to the plot. One of the most pleasing of this season's Columbus offerings, Conrad's story will serve as an attractive alternative to nonfiction reading on the subject and certainly as a read-aloud. --Sylvia V. Meisner, Allen Middle School, Greensboro, NC\ \
