Around the World in a Hundred Years - by Jean Fritz (Paperback)

About the Book

These ten true tales of 15th-century explorers bring history to life, with accounts of the exploits of Christopher Columbus, Bartholomew Diaz, Ponce de Leon, and others. "Fritz approaches (the salient facts) with playful irreverence; accordingly, the frequently traveled material can seem refreshingly new".--"Publishers Weekly", starred review. An IRA Teachers' Choice and "Parenting" Magazine Best Book of the Year.

Book Synopsis

Newbery-Honor winning author, Jean Fritz, brings history to life once again in 10 true tales of 15th-century European explorers!

True tales of our world's greatest 15th century explorers, from Bartholomew Diaz and Christopher Columbus to Juan Ponce de Leon and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, are fascinatingly portrayed, complimented with the softly shaded pencil illustrations of Anthony Bacon Venti. Readers are led through a one-hundred-year period when Europeans explored the world and mapped the globe, while selfishly feeding their own curiosity and greed along the way. Fritz includes astounding details, which provide young readers with an expanded understanding of events and the idiosyncrasies of these colorful characters. Venti's maps clarify the explorers' routes. Count on Jean Fritz to breathe life into these true tales of the Old World's fifteen most extraordinary explorers. It is history written in a refreshingly new way.

"While presenting the salient facts, Fritz approaches them with playful irreverence; accordingly, the frequently traveled material can seem refreshingly new."--Publisher's Weekly

Review Quotes

Praise for Around the World in a Hundred Years

★''Fritz offers a wickedly funny look at 10 explorers who, between 1421 and 1522, ventured into what contemporaneous mapmakers called the Unknown. While presenting the salient facts, Fritz approaches them with playful irreverence; accordingly, the frequently traveled material can seem refreshingly new." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An excellent book that brings the period alive." -Children 's Book Review Service

''Fritz delivers a pleasant, chatty narrative, chock full of insights, observations, and fascinating facts." -The New Advocate

An IRA Teachers' Choice
NCTE Orbis Pictus Nominee
A Parenting Magazine Best Book of the Year

About the Author

Acclaimed biographer, Jean Fritz, was born in China to American missionaries on November 16, 1915. Living there until she was almost thirteen sparked a lifelong interest in American history. She wrote about her childhood in China in Homesick, My Own Story, a Newbery Honor Book and winner of the National Book Award.
Ms. Fritz was the author of forty-five books for children and young people. Many center on historical American figures, gaining her a reputation as the premier author of biographies for children and young people.
Among the other prestigious awards Ms. Fritz has garnered are: the National Humanities Medal, the Children's Literature Legacy Award, the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture Award. the Christopher Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Non-Fiction Award, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and many ALA Notable Books of the Year, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, and ALA Booklist Editors' Choice Awards.
She passed away on May 14, 2017.