The Discovery of Slowness
The Discovery of Slowness
Nadolny's masterpiece, The Discovery of Slowness tells the incredible story of Sir John Franklin, a sailor and explorer who battled the frozen Arctic wastes and paved the way for the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Ridiculed for his slowness in his youth, Franklin's quiet calm later helps him to become an icon of adventure.
Author : Sten Nadolny
Edition : Paperback, 320 pages, Canongate
ISBN : 9781786891662
also might be of interest
'Thus fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.’
Who has not dreamed of life on an exotic isle, far away from civilisation? Here is the novel which has inspired countless imitations by lesser writers, none of which equal the power and originality of Defoe's famous book. Robinson Crusoe, set ashore on an island after a terrible storm at sea, is forced to make do with only a knife, some tobacco, and a pipe. He learns how to build a canoe, make bread, and endure endless solitude. That is, until, twenty-four years later, when he confronts another human being. First published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe has been praised by such writers as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Samuel Johnson as one of the greatest novels in the English language.
Why Novel North recommends
'Based on the real life Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, Robinson Crusoe is rich in detail and believable. It’s both considered and insightful, and reflects the contemplations of those of us who’ve pondered how we would survive marooned on an island. It rightly deserves its consideration as one of the most the famous adventure stories written.'
Author : Daniel Defoe
Edition : Penguin Clothbound Classic, Hardback, 288 pages
ISBN : 9780141393407
Weight: 403g
Dimensions: 204 x 138 x 29mm
“Ever dreamed of being an otter? That utter underwater thunderbolter, that shimmering twister.”
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards 30 from 30 Award 2020
Winner of the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year 2018
Shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year 2017
Shortlisted for the Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize 2018
Shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019
The Lost Words is a very special illustrated collection of spell-poems to re-wild the language of children. All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. These are the words of the natural world - Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children's minds.
Why Novel North recommends
'Meandering through the pages of this big book brings enormous joy. The illustrations are spellbinding and the words magical. A wonderful book for adults and children.’
Author : Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris
Edition : Hamish Hamilton imprint of Penguin Books, Hardback, 128 pages
ISBN : 9780241253588
Published : 5th July 2017
Weight: 1469g
Dimensions: 377 x 278 x 16mm
In An Island Odyssey Hamish Haswell-Smith casts off in his forty-one-foot sloop Jandara, armed with his sketch pad and a route map of a journey first taken by Martin Martin in 1703. Haswell-Smith sets sail on a voyage that will take him to fifty-two different islands around the Scottish Coast, from Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde to St. Kilda, Fair Isle and Bass Rock.
Filled with natural history, local legend and landscapes and accompanied by the author's own distinctive sketches and watercolours An Island Odyssey is a delightful way to discover or rediscover the romance, beauty and inescapable magnetism of the Scottish Islands.
Author : Hamish Haswell-Smith
Edition : Canongate Books Ltd, Paperback, 175 pages
ISBN : 9781782111757
Published : 3rd April 2014
Weight: 791g
Dimensions: 260 x 246 x 14mm
Debut illustrator William Grill brings us a detailed visual narrative of Shackleton's epic journey to Antarctica. Grill's beautiful use of coloured pencils and vibrant hues places him somewhere on the artistic spectrum between Raymond Briggs and David Hockney and his fastidious cataloguing of every single detail of the expedition is nothing short of a Blackstock collection.
He manages to evoke the atmosphere and intrepid excitement that would have surrounded the expedition with his impeccably researched, detailed and atmospheric drawings. Children will love examining the exploded diagrams of the now peculiar provisions taken and the individual drawings of each sled dog and pack horse.
This book takes the academic and historical information surrounding the expedition and reinterprets it for a young audience in a way that will capture their imaginations.
Why Novel North Recommends
‘I’ve always had a fascination with Shackleton’s expedition, and the incredible fact that the whole Endurance team survived their time marooned on the ice, their subsequent trek across, and finally their rescue from Elephant Island. Grill’s illustrations really encompass and capture both the small, warm moments of the expedition as well as the vast and often hostile landscape they had to endure.’
Author : William Grill
Edition : Flying Eye Books, Hardback, 80 pages
ISBN : 9781909263109
Published : 1st February 2014
Weight: 622g
Dimensions: 305 x 245 x 15mm