Reviews for David Beckham

The average rating for David Beckham based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-26 00:00:00 Paul Takehiro Although fortunately and yes also appreciatively Sandra Markle does not ever simply try to depict Christopher Columbus as a hero par excellence, as someone larger than life or as incapable of making mistakes (since in Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World, aside from and of course like in her other three Explorers books with the author showcasing and describing many of the often new to science animal species encountered by Columbus and his crew, Sandra Markle also repeatedly points out and lets us as readers know the very many problems encountered during the voyage and that actually, Christopher Columbus himself always seems to have totally assumed that he had in fact and indeed found a faster route to the East and not really discovered a new and previously unknown area of the world), I for one also really and truly do wish that in Sandra Markle's presented narrative there had been rather more and also vehement authorial criticism regarding how Christopher Columbus and his crew both approached the native populations encountered and equally importantly a detailed acknowledgement of the ecological havoc that rats stowing away on Christopher Columbus' ships (as well as the cats that were taken aboard to keep rats, mice etc. in check) generally ended up wreaking in the so-called New World and in particular in the islands of the Caribbean with their unique and endemic fauna. For while in Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World Sandra Markle certainly does mention that Christopher Columbus encountered people on the islands he and his crew "discovered" and that they traded with them and sadly also captured some as potential slaves (and to be taken back to his home, back to Spain, as curiosities), in my humble opinion, Markle should also and absolutely have gone one step farther here and to have equally demonstrated that for the the native populations of the Americas, Christopher Columbus' voyages of discovery were NOT AT ALL something positive but rather a huge and massive tragedy and often a majorly genocidal one at that. And yes and furthermore, considering how Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World focuses so heavily on the at the time unknown and undiscovered animal species that Christopher Columbus and his crew encountered and described on their voyage(es) I for one certainly (and also) was hoping for a bit more of a critical perspective by Sandra Markle (as well as a scientific admonishment) regarding how non native to Caribbean animal species were (at first) inadvertently brought to the area and how in particular rats and cats ended up simply decimating much of the native insectivore and bird species. And thus, while I do still recommend Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World (and have once again enjoyed the combination of Sandra Markle's presented text and Jamel Akib's bright and descriptive artwork), I do find that Sandra Markle could have been and to and for me really should have been a bit more in-depth regarding the long range problems and horrors (both humanitarian and ecological) that Christopher Columbus and his voyages have wrought (and really, that the native populations of the Americas are still feeling the negative effects of colonisation even today and that the endemic wildlife of in particular the island nations of the Caribbean are still being negatively influenced by the descendants of the rats and cats that first came ashore during Columbus' explorations and discoveries).

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-18 00:00:00 Matthew Fatheree The first historical fiction story I ever wrote was in fifth grade and it was about Christopher Columbus; this was in the dark ages when the way history was taught should have not been taken remotely seriously. So, I'm sure whatever I wrote was also a bunch of nonsense. Now, this book is history the way it probably was: ships that weren't always seaworthy, rats, Columbus capturing slaves, Columbus "discovering" an already settled area, etc. etc. but also giving credit for what was accomplished, and in this narrative there is much concentration on the natural world: the findings of natural resources and the many animals observed, and eaten. I like the way the exploration is shown as exciting but certainly not glamorous, and not wholly successful either. The pictures are wonderful. My favorite illustration is the one with the dolphins and the (probably gray) whale. This is a short (46 pages) non-fiction chapter book, containing 11 chapters, a glossary, a For More Information section, and an index. Key words in the book have their pronunciation included. 3 ½ stars