Charles Darwin’s Around-the-World Adventure

Letting her background in map illustration shine, Thermes (Little Author in the Big Woods) follows the travels of Charles Darwin while concisely explaining the influence they had on his growing understanding of the interconnectedness of nature. As Darwin sails from England to the South American coast and the Galápagos Islands, Thermes’s neatly outlined pencil-and-watercolor images mix full-bleed scenes of bounteous wildlife with maps of the corresponding landscapes, labeling towns, geographic features, and local animals. A boyish enthusiasm is frequently apparent in Thermes’s portraits of the young scientist at work, even when seasickness was getting the best of him (“The landscape was so different from anything Charles had known in England,” she writes. “He was giddy”). Substantial back matter includes an in-depth look at Darwin’s later life and research, as well as a spread of 18 additional facts tied to his journey. Ages 5–7. Agent: Marietta Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Oct.)