Ice Trap! Paperback – 10 April 2001

This book, written mainly with children in mind, can be enjoyed equally well by adults. It contains all the basic information on The Great Man's heroic expedition aboard the Endurance. The book is well written and beautifully illustrated. I bought a copy for myself and have since ordered another two for my daughters. I'm sure they will be read with interest and help to bring home the enormity of Shackleton's achievement, providing inspiration for years to come. Highly recommended.

I bought this for a Year 4 class to study through 'Talk 4 Writing' literacy session. I found the book to have enough historical accuracy to make it a read with authority that can be further complemented by other texts and documents. The images are well drawn and they can support many writing tasks.

Children have really enjoyed learning about Shackleton's journey through this book.

Review from Jaide (year 6):Earlier today, I finished reading Ice Trap. The book is written by Meredith Hooper and illustrated by M.P Robertson. I thoroughly admired the pictures as they had a lot of detail. I also liked the language because the book had a lot of description and it helped me to picture the story.During the narrative, I enjoyed the determination of Shackleton and his crew. The challenging and treacherous things they faced brought action into the story and made me want to read more even though I usually think picture books are for younger children. One of the pictures I personally liked the most was the colossal, thrashing wave plummeting over the boat in the middle of the story.Although I enjoyed some elements of the story, I still wanted more from some parts of it. For example, Meredith Hooper talked a lot about the crew members but didn’t introduce them in detail.I would recommend this book to children aged 9-11 because there is a lot of vocabulary for younger children to understand.Review from Kalina (year 6):Not too long ago, me and my class finished reading the amazing story Ice Trap by Meredith Hooper. In this review, I hope to inform you of the things i like and dislike. I thoroughly enjoyed the use of ambitious vocabulary and vibrant illustrations. I particularly liked the sentence, ‘the floes glittered like endless ice-white fields.’ As a matter of fact, I underestimated the power of picture books. The charming pictures helped me follow along as well as giving me a clear image of the situation.Despite my enjoyment, i didn’t like that the crew members were referred to as ‘Shackleton’s men’ or ‘his crew’. It doesn’t focus enough on the men even though they went through so much.Overall, I would rate this book a four and would recommend to all age groups. It embraces determination which I believe can inspire anyone.Review from Addison (year 6):This book was a beautiful story full of perseverance and determination. I recommend this inspirational story to everyone who loves a good picture book. I particularly admired the illustration on page 4 with the penguins walking on the ice; I also enjoyed the description on this page. In fact, I started to use the words in my own writing such as plummeting and optimism.Overall, this book was delightful to read and I would give it 4/5 stars as I loved the book. I recommend this book to ages 8 through 12.Review from Hanna (year 6):Today with my year 6 class, we finished the unputdownable picture book, Ice Trap by Meredith Hooper. Ice Trap is an adventurous book based on true events from Shackleton’s journey. It has vivid, detailed pictures and a map at the beginning that helps you imagine how long their journey took. Alongside the pictures, the writing itself is very descriptive and uses fabulous vocabulary. My favourite descriptive line in the book is, ‘the floes glittered like endless ice-white fields.’Although the book is very entertaining, it does feel rushed and there was room for more information I believe. I would love for there to be actual quotes from the characters. The book said a lot about the journey but not about the crew members.Overall, Ice Trap is a great book and I would recommend it to ages 9 and up.

Gripping story of this amazing adventure! This is the best book I've found to share with Y4-6 pupils about historic polar explorers.

wow! an amazing story. I used it as a shared read and the children were completely engaged. The language used is beautiful.

Story told in simple language for kids. Grandson was enthralled. Part of his school curriculum this year and has been extremely helpful with homework.

Very good retelling - children were genuinely excited to read this story - useful for our Polar Lands topic at school.