Bodies from the Ice - Informational

Bibliography:

Deem, James M. 2008. BODIES FROM THE ICE. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books. 978-0-618-80045-2.

Plot Summary:

Glaciers all around the world are rapidly melting.  The bodies of men, woman and children who died on these glaciers hundreds if not thousands of years ago are being discovered because the ice is melting.  Artifacts that were buried with these bodies are also being discovered, scientists are able to run tests on these bodies and artifacts to help us further understand who our ancestors were, what they ate, how they hunted and how they lived.  Bodies from the Ice features amazing color photographs and drawings to help piece together five different stories about body discoveries made around the world.  The pictures that are included in this story add an amazing visual of what was discovered and the state of which these bodies were discovered.   

Critical Analysis: 

 James Deem does an amazing job piecing these individual stories together to make an incredible informational book.  Children will find amusement in the beautiful pictures that help piece the stories together.  Seeing pictures of bodies frozen in ice and then laid out on tables after they have been excavated adds a gross element that children will find appealing. 

James Deem not only tells the story of how these bodies were discovered but he also explains the terrain of which the person probably traveled, an explanation of possibly how or why the person died, how and why the bodies were discovered, what is going on environmentally that caused the discovery to take place as well as how our current environmental state is effecting the glaciers, our fresh water supplies and then how we can help rectify the situation.  There is so much more to these stories than just the discovery of the bodies alone and anyone who tries to educate children on the environment and how the melting of the glaciers is effecting mankind will appreciate this truly incredible informational book. 

James Deem is a retired college professor who has written many fiction and nonfiction books.  He had never been to a glacier before researching this book but now that he's been he hopes his book will help encourage children to visit a glacier before they are melted.  He wanted this book to be a memorial to the people who have perished in glacier deaths but to the glaciers too.  With this kind of passion one would have confidence in James Deem and him doing all of the research necessary to create such an amazing book. 

 

 

Review Excerpts and Awards:

2009 Robert F. Sibert Informational Award Honor Book

2011 Prairie Pasque Award Winner

Kirkus Reviews’ Best Children’s Books of 2008

Notable Book for Children 2009 - ALA

There are books about melting glaciers and books about frozen bodies, but this attractive offering combines the topics in a way that will intrigue readers. It begins with a chance discovery by walkers in northern Italy who find a thawing corpse originally thought to be from the 1800s. Scientists later realized the body was more than 5,000 years old. As glaciers melt throughout the world, more frozen bodies are appearing, adding greatly to the knowledge researchers have about history and culture. Individual chapters cover types of glaciers and why they are fertile territory for housing bodies; the Chamonix glacier, which saw women climbers in the early 1800s; and the mystery of George Mallory, who died trying to climb Mt. Everest. Perhaps most fascinating to kids will be the chapter on recently discovered Incan children sacrificed to the gods. The pictures of these children, looking as though they might be sleeping, are arresting. Heavily illustrated with historical memorabilia as well as photos of bodies, scenery, artifacts, and rather simplistic maps, this offers a lot to look at and learn about. Grades 4-7. --Ilene Cooper - Booklist

Connections:

·         What is so fascinating about this book is that it covers information on the discovery of bodies that were lost in glaciers but it also takes on an environmental element too.  Students could do science experiments to recreate burials within ice and how the bodies moved.  They could build mini-glaciers and bury objects within the ice and slowly melt the ice to watch how those buried items move down their man made glacier.  Basically replicating the how the buried bodies moved down the glacier over time as the seasons changed and the glacier ice has melted.

·         At the end of the book there is a section on Personal Ways to Help the Environment, many of the suggestions listed are easy to implement.  Have children raise money to buy a tree and plant it on the school grounds.  If the school doesn’t have a compost pile, have them create one with the lunch garbage.    Do a daily news report, have one child each day search the Internet or news sites to look for environment news and then report back to the class.  Have each child keep track of the number of miles their Mom and Dad drives and see who can cut back the most of number of miles driven per family.