2. Storm run By Libby Riddles, illustrated by Shannon Cartwright and published by Sasquatch Books is an inspirational Informative and autobiographical book about Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. This is an incredible book that took me on an adventure through the Alaska wilderness. The book includes both illustrations and photos along with gripping details of the race.
The book includes both pictures and photography from actual sled dog races. By themselves the illustrations are ok; they are more like little visual vignettes, however combined with the actual pictures they took me into the story giving me details of the adventure. The best picture is on page 29. In this picture we see Libby with her team on the way to Unalakleet, snow, some trees, and nothing else. This picture gives a great feel of the isolation that Libby writes about. It also helps me to come to terms with how final the race can be. If she succumbs to hypothermia, bear, or other danger in the wilderness help is hours, sometimes days, away. My favorite illustration is on the previous page, 28. This shows the race route overlapping a map of Alaska. This illustration gave me a great visualization of how far the race really is. Another illustration I really like is on pages 12-13. This illustration details what is in the sled of an Iditarod racer and what gear the dogs have. Some items included are: headlamp with batteries, camp axe, smoked salmon, dog booties (shoes), and sleeping bag. The amount of items that goes into the sled gave me a vast appreciation of how much planning goes into this race.
The Iditarod is a grueling 1,131 mile race that teams human and dogs together. As a team they must traverse through subzero temperatures, face wild animals, watch out for thin ice, and encounter other obstacles. “Storm Run” does a great job of explaining the intricate details of the race while presenting the information in a way that children can comprehend. The author does a great job of explaining how the checkpoints are operated. She explains that a veterinarian examines the dogs while a doctor looks at the humans to see if they can continue the race. Afterwards the team eats and rests to get ready for the rest of the race.
Exploring the world, endurance, and a role model are all central themes in this story. Libby constantly is exploring the world of Alaska in this book. She must muster up the courage and the endurance to finish this race. She is also a role model to young girls across the world. She showed them that anyone, man or woman, can win such a race as grueling as the Iditarod. ( )