Book Sharing Monday :: The Great Serum Race and Big Alaska

I am sharing with you two books today by author Debbie S. Miller, "The Great Serum Race: Blazing the Iditarod Trail" and "Big Alaska: Journey Across America's Most Amazing State". Both titles are illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. We read both books as part of our current Iditarod study. They are wonderful non-fiction picture books that we all enjoyed and learned a lot from.

The Great Serum Race is a great book to learn about the original Iditarod tril and the race that twenty sled dog teams did to bring life-saving serum to the community of Nome in Alaska. We have read this picture book every year that we have followed the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The book explains the story behind the serum race and also has extra information at the back of the book about the serum run mushers, the heroic dogs, and the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.

"The relay continued from musher to musher, roadhouse to roadhouse, with teams pushing west through the biting cold. At each relay point, the mushers warmed the serum over wood-fired stoves. Following the winding rivers, the teams covered an average of thirty miles each, at a speed of six or seven miles per hour."


Big Alaska is a gorgeous book! We really enjoyed reading about all the "big things" in that state, from the highest coastal mountains (St. Elias Mountains) to the Matanuska River Valley where some of the heaviest vegetables grow, to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An eagle is your guide on this voyage around Alaska.This book also mentioned the Iditarod which is the longest sled dog race in the world. There are Alaska facts at the back of the book, with all the state symbols and climate records. The author also added extra information about each of the places featured in the main part of the book. 

"Tucked in the forest, the eagle spots some cabins with yards full of sled dogs.  He roosts in a nearby spruce tree and watches a dog musher drive his team of huskies down the historic Iditarod trail."

  

If you would like to participate in Book Sharing Monday, please add the link to your book sharing post below. Happy Reading!