Carry on, Mr. Bowditch

by Jean Lee Latham, John O'Hara Cosgrave, John O'Hara Cosgrave (Illustrator)

Overview

Readers today are still fascinated by “Nat,” an eighteenth-century nautical wonder and mathematical wizard. Nathaniel Bowditch 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618250745
Publisher:	Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date:	05/19/2003
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	516
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.67(d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Jean Lee Latham was born in 1902 in Buckhannon, West Virginia. At an early age, she became a prolific writer, penning works of fiction and nonfiction, as well as theater scripts. Ever since its debut, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch has acquired an intrigued group of sea-loving fans.

Editorial Reviews

The 1956 Newbery Medal winner, Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham, is a fictionalized biography of the great American navigator Nathaniel Bowditch, whose 1802 book, The American Practical Navigator, became known as the "Sailor's Bible." This edition features new jacket art and the original b&w interior illustrations by John O'Hara Cosgrave II. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Jean Lee Latham (1902-1995) won the 1956 Newbery Medal for her fictionalized biography of Nathaniel Bowditch. He, of course, was the Yankee from Salem, Massachusetts, who wrote The American Practical Navigator, better known as the "Sailor's Bible." A teacher and meticulous researcher, Latham's strength lay in her ability to subtly pad her narratives with telling information and incidents which brought alive each of the periods she tackled for her many books. In Bowditch the young Nat grows up poor in a post-American Revolution world rife with currency inflation problems. His nine years as an indentured apprentice for a chandlery are peppered with understandable explanations of the nautical terms that—along with his insatiable appetite for mathematics—eventually lead to his navigational discoveries. Lathem's writing style has the slightly innocent tone of an earlier age, yet Nathaniel Bowditch still comes alive in her pages. This reprint holds up remarkably well, and readers will have the added pleasure of John O'Hara Cosgrave II's original illustrations. 2003 (orig. 1955), Houghton Mifflin,
— Kathleen Karr

Children's Literature

"Illustrations, rich in detail, by John O'Hara Cosgrave II add authenticity and value." School Library Journal, Starred

From the Publisher