The Man Who Discovered America

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

Without him, what would we do?

In the fun and interesting nonfiction book, A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus, David A. Adler portrays a wonderful, yet simplified biography of Columbus's life. It begins with his young childhood, dreaming of going out to sea. One page reads "Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Genoa is at the shore of the Ligurian Sea, part of the Mediterranean. When Christopher and others looked out over the water, they saw no end to it." The picture shows him sitting in a window sill looking out into the ocean. This describes his love for the ocean and how badly he wanted to be out there. This story tells of him becoming a sailor when he was twenty-five, and it states facts about his marriages and children that were a part of his life. This book describes him asking many kings for help in need of three ships to sail west. Sadly, the kings refused to help him.  Years later, the king and queen of Spain finally agreed to help him, and they gave him the three famous ships we know that led up to his discovery of the New World, the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Christopher Columbus was claimed a hero back then, and he is still a hero now. We have celebrated his name for years, and we would not be living in what we call "America" if he had not discovered it back in 1492.

This book correlates with the Kindergarten GPS standard

SSKH1b. The student will identify the purpose of national holidays and describe the people or events celebrated. b. Columbus Day (Christopher Columbus).

When introducing Columbus day, this book would be an excellent source for teaching about Christopher Columbus and why we celebrate a holiday named just after him. Children in Kindergarten would be very interested in this book because of the fun illustrations and straight to the point information. Above is an illustration of the three ships Columbus took on his journey, including the Santa Maria that Columbus traveled on. This book would also be a very important asset to a classroom because students will continue to learn about Christopher Columbus, the New World, and the three ships that he took to discover the New World, as they continue on through school.

A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus is an excellent tool to use for any early childhood classroom. Nonfiction is especially important to integrate into student's readings, and this one would be a great one for them to start off with and enjoy. It states all of the important facts that children should know about the history of Columbus and why we celebrate him. It would be a great addition to your classroom library!