Antarctic Close-up

Imagine handling a real telescope from an Antarctic expedition.

John Collinson Close was a real explorer on the Australian Mawson 1911-1914 expedition to Antarctica.

He was assistant collector on the expedition.

His telescope is now in the National Museum of Australia.

Guess why this story might be called ‘Antarctic Close-up’.

The Making Tracks series takes young readers on a fictional journey through some Australian stories,inspired by objects from the National Museum of Australia.

Other books in the series are based on museum objects such as a Chinese sewing basket from goldrush days, a convict coin and even an outside broadcast radio van from the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956.

Although Hazel Edwards went on an Antarctic expedition to Casey Station with the Australian Antarctic Division as writer-on-ice, in 2001, this story of today’s 10 year old John, is faction. Antarctic historical details are accurate. But a little electronic imagination has been added via the laptop web-cam.

John loves to fiddle with things but when he connects a broken web-cam to an old telescope,he is in for a shock.Suddenly he finds himself looking back in time, caught in a very ‘cool’ Antarctic adventure.

ISBN: 9781876944544
Author: Hazel Edwards
Publisher: National Museum of Australia Press

Formats: Paperback

Visit your local bookshop or these online retailers have copies available now – and you can purchase online:

The National Museum of Australia’s Making Tracks website has activities.
The Looking Glass has a work in progress article about the process of writing ‘Antarctic Close-up’, which includes Hazel’s research and challenges of writing faction about an historical event. [The Looking Glass : New Perspectives on Children’s Literature, Vol 11, No 3 (2007)]
Hazel’s other Antarctic books include the YA novel Antarctica’s Frozen Chosen, a play in Right or Wrong, the diary ‘Antarctic Writer on ice’ and a picture book Antarctic Dad.
Visit the Australian Antarctic Division website for links to the actual bases.
Aussie Reviews ‘offers a unique perspective on Antarctic history to young readers.”Through the webcam, history comes alive on his dad’s laptop.’ Sally Murphy