Best of
Geography

1935

Children of the Northlights


Ingri d'Aulaire - 1935
    Long out of print, Children of the Northlights introduces readers young and old to siblings Lise and Lasse and to the captivating Sami people and culture of northern Scandinavia. At times mischievous and at others quite courageous, Lisa and Lasse, and their Sami culture, are brought brilliantly to life in the d’Aulaires’ illustrations.This remarkable sister and brother live at the very top of Norway—to Lise and Lasse, seemingly at the very top of the world. All bundled up against the polar winter in their coats of fur and furry shoes, they look at times like two little bears rolling in the snow. Beneath the bright dancing of the northern lights, we follow Lise and Lasse as they enjoy the long winter days and polar nights: playing pranks on their family, chasing and playing with their reindeer Silverside and Snowwhitedeer, skiing, taking hot saunas to stay clean, and staying warm while snowstorms rage across the land. Lise and Lasse hunker down in their warm tent and wait for the sun to return, which, of course, it always does. When the sun comes back in spring, it’s time to go to school in the village (which Lise and Lasse happily do only after instructing their dogs to take very good care of Silverside and Snowwhitedeer while they’re away).Inspired directly by a remarkable journey the d’Aulaires took to northern Europe and their time spent among the Sami, Children of the Northlights is a brightly illustrated portrait and celebration of the Sami people, culture, and snow-covered landscapes of the frozen north, from two of the twentieth century’s greatest storytellers.

Seven League Boots


Richard Halliburton - 1935
    Such a man was Richard Halliburton - Dreamer -Traveler - Poet - Bon Vivant and doomed to die. "Seven League Boots" was his fifth and last book, and details his epic adventures in a variety of remote places. "I had been commissioned to go anywhere in the world I wished and write whatever pleased me. My only orders were to move fast, visit strange places, to meet whomever was interesting - and to start at once," Halliburton wrote. His subsequent book illustrates how he followed these orders with passion and abandon. America's favorite adventure writer dined with Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia, interviewed the infamous assassin of Czar Nicholas II in Russia, tried to sneak into the forbidden city of Mecca, and finally, rode an elephant over the Alps in the tracks of Hannibal. It is Halliburton at his best, reckless and romantic, and it is the last chapter of a life grown tragic. Incapable of writing a dull page, Halliburton nevertheless was a captive of his own press. His insatiable readers demanded ever more death-defying accounts. Nearing forty, physically exhausted, and in financial trouble, Halliburton thought to roll the dice once again, hoping that the charm which had always saved him in the past would materialize one more time. It didn't! Soon after finishing this book, the intrepid traveler ignored the warnings of seasoned sailors and set sail on the ship that would take him away from his book-hungry public and into the arms of a watery death. This, his final book, is the ink-stained headstone of Halliburton's amazing life.

He Went With Marco Polo


Louise Andrews Kent - 1935
    

In The Steps Of St. Paul


H.V. Morton - 1935
    Paul dazzlingly retraces the apostle's famed journey of faith through Israel, Greece, and Italy, using the Bible itself as a guide. With an ear for good stories and an eye alert to detail, Morton creates a compulsively readable narrative that will satisfy the most curious traveler as well as the most informed and passionate reader of the Bible.