Kon-Tiki Man: An Illustrated Biography of Thor Heyerdahl

I bought this book expecting it to reveal new information about Thor Heyerdahl but it is just composed of chunks of text lifted from other books. It's saving grace is the collection of photos. If you use these while reading the other books it is quite helpful. On the whole not worth buying though.

I THOUGHT THE BOOK I ORDERED WAS A PICTORAL STUDY OF REGION...I RECEIVED CHILDREN'S BOOK OF DRAWING S REGARDS JOURNEY... STILL A WORTHY READ I.E. THE SYNTAX ISN'T STRICTLY FOR CHILDREN TO PERUSE...

Up front admission: I am a fan of Thor Heyerdahl. He has managed to combine academics with exploration with all parts of anthropology from archaeology to linguistics to physical and cultural anthropology. In fact, my wife and I just recently visited Easter Island, in part because of Heyerdahl's "Aku Aku."This book has a biographer using Heyerdahl's own words to supplement his and does so effectively. The photos are also helpful in following his exploits. I have read Heyerdahl's autobiography (In the Footsteps of Adam) and this book (Kon Tiki Man) does a better job of moving through his life chronologically. But I can easily recommend both.To be sure, many of Heyerdahl's theories have been proven incorrect over time, but he managed to bring subjects to the fore so the debate could begin. Even those who may have disagreed with him have admired his spirit and fearless approach to learning what happened so many eons ago.

As an English teacher of reading-disabled high school tenth-graders, I have, in teaching an excerpt from the Kon-Tiki, spent two to three days on this account and let it go at that. This year, I wanted the story to seem more real to the students; I wanted them to realize that this was a true, exciting account of an incredible experimental voyage, one which I, as a fourteen-year-old, remembered from Life magazine and radio updates. I researched the library and found this book. The exciting aspect of this book is that we had read and studied the excerpt from the perspective of the narrative genre; we chronicled the duties and adventures of the crew and learned their names. But now, in this biography, we could see Herman, Torstein, Heyerdahl, Erik and the rest! They did exist, and my students could see that this strange boat did, too! They were also amazed that Mr. Heyerdahl is still alive and working. This text has added such life and discussion to our brief excerpt that it has taken its place along with our class textbook and vocabulary. It now remains in my curriculum.