Great suggestions, Luna and ratamahattayou. Thank you!
Great suggestions, Luna and ratamahattayou. Thank you!
Duplicate Post
Last edited by rickb; 12-12-2017 at 08:03.
Yes!
Not only one of the most amazing stories, there have been so many books written on the topic they exist at many different reading levels. Alfred Lansing’s is the classic one — no pictures but relatively short. There have even been one’s written around the ship’s cat, I think.
Added plus — happy ending for the men involved.
If you want to include a short story, consider Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”. I don’t think it ended up so well for the man, but his dog did better (as I recall).
Both of those may well stay with their readers for a lifetime.
Last edited by rickb; 12-12-2017 at 08:05.
Link to Touching the Void... https://www.amazon.com/Touching-Void.../dp/0060730552
First person account by Joe Simpson
Interesting enough, nobody mentions one of the countless books about the Lewis&Clark expedition, esp. the ones that are more focused on Sacajawea.
This is a story nobody knows here in Europe, and it was a fascinating reading for me. Some would fit perfectly for kids, I think.
While some other books mentioned above still send shivers over my back (and I'd hesistant exposing my kids to), like Joe Simpsons Story, or the novel from Jack London.
LOVED that book! Probably read that at least 5 times when I was a kid.
That story not only helped influence my love of the outdoors and adventures of all kinds, but really illustrated and inspired the concept of self-sufficiency. For a ten year-old girl back then, that was kind of a big deal.
(I also loved and learned from "Dove", the story of Robin Graham, who set off as a teenager on a solo trip to sail around the world.)
fortis fortuna adjuvat
Try "Forever on the Mountain". A fine true story of the worst mountaineering tragedy on Denali. Not like an Everest or K-2 climbing story, but has lots of simple lessons about how conditions change and how safety and communication are key.
Some other books listed here might not be suitable for kids and some clearly focus more on death rather than survival. Having said this, I refused to let my son do a Presidential Traverse with his friends until he read a chapter out of "Not Without Peril" that I selected for him.
Before he popped that cork on Katahdin, Aaron Ralston wrote a book on how he survived his ordeal.
I just watched the movie, but I can think most kids could handle the story.
Hell, my parents took my brother and I to see Deliverance when I was eleven or twelve and look how I turned out.
I can still recall my mother saying “that” had to be as bad for a man as for a woman as we left, without fully understanding her maternal misgivings for this fun family night out however. With other people’s kids, I would not recommend that one, though.
Last edited by rickb; 12-14-2017 at 17:06.
The Crystal Horizon, Reinhold Messner
The Last Place on Earth, Roland Huntford
The Five Basic Principles of Going Lighter ~ Cam "Swami" Honan of OZ