Tuesday 1 April 2014

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch





Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Author: Jean Lee Latham
ISBN: 978-0-618-25074-5
Pages: 251






"I really like this story!"
This is the line I heard so many times while I read this book aloud to my children.  I even found myself saying it near the end.  So for this book "I really like this story!" has become it's motto in our house. 
The story of Nathanial Bowditch.  A boy who was destined for Harvard but his parents sold him as an apprentice.  Where he worked he was encouraged to keep reading.  He kept journals of the books so he could remember the information.  He studied everything he could get his hands on, every spare moment he got.  When we finished his time he went working on ships but always took his books.  Upon the ships he taught the other men to study and also taught them to believe in themselves.
His love for mathematics took navigation to new limits.  He wanted to see that every table in the books were correct.  This lead him to write his famous works "The American Practical Navigator" (also known as the "Sailor's Bible"). 
This is a biography of a boy who fights poverty and all limits put him  He finally graduates Harvard, without spending a day at Harvard.  It inspires children to read and never give up.  The limits placed in front of them do not have to limit the person they endeavour to become.
We all really enjoyed this story.  It was very easy to read aloud and I would recommend it to any child, boy or girl, who is capable of reading chapter books. 
This was available from book depository, fishpond, amazon and Whitcoulls
A lapbook and unit study was available from whitcoulls





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