The Snow Baby: The Arctic Childhood of Admiral Robert E. Peary’s Daring Daughter

Holiday House
Ages 10 and up

Booklist Editors’ Choice Book
A Booklist Top Ten Biography for Youth
James Madison Award Honor Book
Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Title
Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice Book

“When Marie Peary, daughter of the famous explorer, was six weeks old, her mother wrapped her in a caribou skin bag, furs, and an American flag and carried her outside to see the sunlight shine on the Greenland snow. Soon the sun would disappear for months. Young Marie had a childhood like no other. Called Snow Baby by the Inuit who had never seen a blond blue-eyed child, she moved back and forth between the icy domains where her father kept camp as he continued his expeditions, and the U.S., where her mother’s relatives led a genteel life. Kirkpatrick had great source material to work with: both Marie and her mother wrote their own books. But her own involving writing gets this right down to a child’s level as she picks out the details that will appeal to them most: Christmas in arctic climes, a frightening ship wreck, her friendships with Inuit children. She wisely frames the youngster’s personal story against a larger one—the repeated struggles of her father to reach the North Pole. This book has everything—adventure, longing for a parent, the juxtaposition of cultures—all wrapped up in attractive package, studded with fabulous photographs. A solid bibliography and source notes for the quotes are appended.—Ray Olson, Starred Review, Booklist.