Awards: 
The axis that runs between the Earth’s North and South Poles is a driving metaphor that lies at the heart of this illustrated story.
In 1995, the real-life Arctic explorer Marek Kamiński accomplished the impossible: travelling to the North Pole and the South Pole – all in a single year. The book kicks off with the idea that ‘every journey begins in the mind’. The breadth of preparations that must be made before setting off and the difficulties encountered along the way are detailed in a knowledgeable, interesting manner punctuated by the sharp illustrations. The array of vast, snowy panoramas is peppered with zoomed-in perspectives on details, such as local birds and frogs. There are plenty of illustrated maps and charts as well, along with comic-style sequences that move through the reader’s mind like an animated film reel. The illustrator has also adopted an interesting scratchboard technique that endows certain illustrations with the quality of an etching. It is a bold and visually appealing book that relays all the excitement and poetic beauty of this daring, real-life expedition.
Anita Wincencjusz-Patyna, translated by Charles Kraszewski
