When Darwin Sailed the Sea

A beautiful, detailed picture book, packed with (as you’d expect from David Long) facts and details about the life, travels and discoveries of Charles Darwin on his journey aboard HMS Beagle.

A great cross-curricular text, involving beautifully written biography and description, but also scientific fact to link with KS2 requirements for evolution and inheritance, this would also sit nicely alongside texts such as Shackleton’s Journey in a unit around Explorers.

Bold and colourful illustrations that younger readers will love add detail to the story throughout, with larger text adding quotes, extra facts and detail alongside the main text. This is going to be a welcome and well-used addition to my Year 6 classroom shelves...highly recommended!

This book is a fantastic introduction to the man behind "On the Origin of Species". The story takes us from Darwin’s “average at best” time at school and university through to his time travelling the world on board the HMS Beagle and beyond. The story of how he pieced together the evidence of variations within species to generate his theory of natural selection is well-paced and beautifully illustrated throughout.

While the book is aimed at children, who will surely be inspired by the man who didn’t do well at school but still went on to achieve greatness, I also learned plenty from this book. It has enough detail to be engaging without overloading the reader on facts and figures, but there is a handy timeline and glossary at the back for readers wanting to know more.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

A beautifully illustrated book about the life of Charles Darwin.

I didn't know very much about Charles Darwin except for the basic facts that he was known for writing 'On the Origin of the Species' and that he brought prominence to the idea of evolution. This book, with its maps, timelines and bright illustrations was a fun way to learn more about his life. I was particularly interested to learn how young Darwin was when he first started working on this theory as the image most commonly presented of him denotes and elderly, bearded man.

Kids with any interest in science or adventure will love this book.

Thank you, #NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fabulous book. It contains amazing facts presented in an accessible way and I think this will appeal to a wide range of ages. The illustrations are beautiful and capture the scenes beautifully. This is definitely worthy of a place on the shelf in any children's library and I will definitely be stocking it in the new school year. I learnt lots of facts when reading this book, and think it would even be appropriate to use in KS3 to support Victorian literature, history and evolution lessons. So many possibilities!

When Darwin Sailed the Sea is a brilliant biographical look at the life of Charles Darwin. Presented through chronological chapters combined with illustrations by Sam Kalda, this is the perfect introduction to a man who changed the beliefs of the world with his discoveries.

The book is written in biographical format and starts with Darwin as a young boy, telling of his failures at school and his own desire to study divinity, not science (something which I was completely unaware of!). Each chapter is short and complemented by illustrations, focusing on Darwin's education, his epic journey on HMS Beagle and of course his discoveries which made him famous.

Each chapter is explained simply but with enough detail to keep both children and adults entertained. I never knew that Darwin was part of a club at Cambridge University called the Glutton Club - it sounds fabulous! It's the right mix between facts you wanted and those that you never knew you needed to know.

I know that I will be using this with my Year 6 class next year as we explore our evolution topic and this will be great to help with some biographical writing and as a rare non-fiction read for pleasure.

A brilliantly illustrated and insightful look into Charles Darwin's life.

Straightforward, clear and complete account of Darwin's important life.

This isn't Horrible Histories, jokey, quizzes and disgusting facts. It's a straightforward biography of Charles Darwin, from his youth and studies to the most important part of his life - his travels and writing - and its impact on the world.

This is written in clear English, to be read by a KS2/KS3 audience and their teachers/parents, with lots of illustrations and realistic portraits of Darwin and others connected to his story.

There is a fair amount of detail about the Theory of Evolution, enough for a young audience to understand what it means and how it differs to the theories pre-Darwin, without commenting on validity and arguments. Key examples (finches) are here, that show the pertinent points that gave Darwin reason to think deeply about what he was seeing on his 5-year round-the-world voyage.

At the end are details of a number of people important to Darwin's story (both proponents and opponents), some illustrations of key species he discovered, and a glossary of scientific terms. I would have liked a list of Further Reading ideas for children who are interested to learn more - books and websites they could access. And some context for later ways in which the theory of evolution did change the world, maybe with uses in the modern era.

A good biography, attractive and easy to read for the target audience.
For ages 9-14.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample advance reading copy.

A brilliant introduction to the life and work of Charles Darwin. With child-friendly language and beautiful pictures, this is the perfect start for someone studying evolution and adaptation as part of science lessons. New vocabulary is clearly explained in the text and the glossary and a selection of influential people in Darwin's life are referred to in a 'who's who' style gallery at the end of the book. The main body of the text is split into short chapters spanning Darwin's life from his beginnings as a disengaged student, to his research and study of evolution when he returned from his travels. The lengthy parts of text are broken up by short snappy facts in larger print.
I would highly recommend this book as a starting point for any teacher covering Darwin's work to give them and the children they teach an introduction to the man behind the science.
I received an eARC of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a wonderful biography this is, and so beautifully illustrated by Sam Kalda. It gives just the right about of information about Darwin's life and his achievements without going into too much detail, and keeping the tone light- it's perfect for kids. I hope the series is expanded.