I like how they talked about Christopher Columbus as a dreamer. The illustration did a good job of showing the expression of what was going on. It displayed how Christopher Columbus begged the Queen and King of Portugal and continued to plead. You could see the excitement in Columbus’s face when the king and queen finally said yes and then again when he reached land. This book is for younger children, but could be used to give all children a brief overview of who Christopher Columbus was and what he accomplished. I’d use this book when teaching about Columbus and the discovery of America. ( )

This book discusses Christopher Columbus' dream that eventually brought him to the Americas.He asked the King and Queen of Spain for help with this journey, and they firmly answered no despite the many times he asked. After many years of him asking, they eventually said yes. His ships were named the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. This book gets students engaged in mapping and allows them to explore their own dreams. ( )

I liked this book for several reasons. I think it is an extremely accessible biography for young readers. I liked that the book focused on key aspects of Columbus’ life, like his dream of reaching the Indies and how many different people rejected his dream (like the king and queen of Spain). It didn’t include unimportant details which make it easier for the reader to focus on the “big picture” and key events that took place in Columbus’ life. I also enjoyed the layout of the book. The illustrations take up the whole page, and the story is made up of simple sentences. The language used in the book is appropriate for young children and is clear and concise This makes it easy for children to follow and allows them to focus on the illustrations. The illustrations are detailed and do a good job of portraying the events leading up to Columbus’ journey. The illustrator also did a great job of showing different emotions of Columbus during his journey, where the reader can clearly see the difference between his sadness when the King and Queen disapproved his voyage compared to his excitement once he reached America. Lastly I enjoyed that the book contained a theme of Columbus’ dream – and at every stage of Columbus’ life the author discusses how close Columbus was to achieving his dream. The book ends with “Columbus dreamed the dream. He showed the way. Many others followed” and I really enjoy this ending because even though it is a biographical picture book it also gives some form of hope to readers that they should follow their own dreams as well! The main idea of the book is to describe key aspects of Christopher Columbus’ life but it also has the message of following your dreams (just like Columbus)! ( )

Summary: This book is about how Christopher Columbus wanted adventure and went out to find it. He sailed across the ocean to discover land.

Personal Reaction: I liked this book because I think it was a good way to introduce young readers who this important figure was and how he began his journey.

Classroom extension: I would have my students draw up a map that they think Christopher Columbus could use on his adventure.

I thoroughly enjoyed this biography about Christopher Columbus because it creates a simple, yet entertaining and motivating historical lesson for young children. I enjoyed the book for the following two reasons: the illustrations and the way it motivates the readers. The reason that I enjoy the illustrations in this book is because they are very detailed and colorful. After the author discusses a certain time and place in Christopher's life, he provides the reader with many different illustrations. For example, when he states that, "When he grew into a man, Christopher Columbus was still a dreamer," he provides multiple illustrations for the reader. The illustrator drew all of the materials that Christopher used when he planned to go exploring. The illustrator also drew Christopher observing a map and dreaming about traveling. This is great to provide for students because it offers multiple different visual aids to help young children understand the text. Secondly, I enjoyed the motivation in the writing because by describing Christopher as such an adventurous and bold man, this provides the readers with the motivation to shoot for their dreams as well. Overall, the main idea of the book is to explain to children how Christopher Columbus loved and where his traveling led him to. ( )