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November 20, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Confusing Children’s Book of the Day

November 20, 2009 by Travis Jonker   4 comments

What is your first reaction to this?

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The Antarctic Express by Kenneth Hite.

Confusion, perhaps? I’m with you. Yes, it appears to be a “parody” of Van Allsburg’s classic The Polar Express, but it looks more like a “tryin’ to be a sequel” to me. Would it help if I said this is a retelling of At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft? That’s not helping me. Man, this still isn’t getting any clearer. How about a summary?

Late one evening after the city has gone to sleep, young Danforth boards the mysterious airplane that waits for him: the Antarctic Express bound for the South Pole. When he arrives, Professor Dyer offers the boy the chance to learn any thing he desires. The boy modestly asks to probe the depths of the eldritch city of the Old Ones. The request is granted. On the way his memory is lost while fleeing from the piping shrieks of the shoggoths. On Christmas Eve, the boy finds his memory of that whistling cry returns. For you see, all who visit the Old Ones’ city forever hear the sound of the shoggoths.

Hmm. Still not making sense. Alright – I think I’ll just call this the anti-stocking stuffer of ’09 and leave it at that.

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About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

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Comments

  1. The Brain Lair says

    November 20, 2009 at 8:23 am

    Ha! (i’m doing that a lot lately). Definitely looks like Polar and seems like a parody with the South Pole thing. I would pick it up to see what it’s about in the hopes that it would be funny but then the summary would turn me off!

  2. Scope Notes says

    November 20, 2009 at 8:25 am

    Yes, I would love to see some interior pages on this one. Can’t seem to find them anywhere.

  3. riddleburger says

    November 20, 2009 at 9:05 am

    Hite has also parodied Where the Wild Things Are, also with a Lovecraft theme.

  4. Scope Notes says

    November 20, 2009 at 11:20 am

    I saw that one! “Where the Deep Ones Are”. Another unusual merging of stories: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Deep-Ones-Kenneth-Hite/dp/1589781031/ref=pd_sim_b_1

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