Although some of these are not exactly period for explorers and pirates, they do carry similar themes and seem appropriate to read at this time.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
This is a classic tale of adventure on the high seas and the search for buried treasure featuring such characters as the young and honest cabin boy Jim Hawkins, the sinister Israel Hands and the hero-villain pirate Long John Silver.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
This is the classic story of a young man who sets sail for a life of adventure in far away places. Fleeing pirates, he is swept ashore on a deserted tropical island and must learn how to survive and deal with his isolation
The Swiss Family Robinson: Or Adventures in a Desert Island by Johann Wyss
A terrible storm strands a Swiss pastor, with his wife and four sons, on a tropical island. Luckily, the Robinsons are optimistic and inventive, and with what they salvage from the wrecked ship, the island’s abundant fruits, plants, and animals, they soon adapt—each day discovering new dangers, skills, and delights in their strange new life.
The Voyager's Stone: The Adventures of a Message-Carrying Bottle Adrift on the Ocean Sea by Robert Kraske
A message carrying bottle, thrown in the sea by a boy vacationing in the Caribbean, makes its way eastward in the Atlantic, then south to Antarctica, and onward to Australia, where it is discovered by an Aborigine girl. Through the bottle's voyage, oceanography is explored, covering such topics as currents, animals and the variety of life found along the margins of the world's oceans.
Carry On, Mr Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
Nathaniel Bowditch, an eighteenth-century nautical wonder and mathematical wizard, grew up in a sailor"s world—Salem in the early days, when tall-masted ships from foreign ports crowded the wharves. But Nat didn't promise to have the makings of a sailor; he was too physically small. Nat may have been slight of build, but no one guessed that he had the persistence and determination to master sea navigation in the days when men sailed only by "log, lead, and lookout." Nat"s long hours of study and observation, collected in his famous work, The American Practical Navigator (also known as the "Sailors" Bible"), stunned the sailing community and made him a New England hero.
|Incans, Aztecs and Mayans|
Written by Sonlight owner to fill a gap for much needed inpartial information about these peoples. Does not condemn the conquistador or the practices of these Empires.