Mamá se va a la Antártida

Mamá se va a la Antártida (Mum goes to Antarctica)

This unusual book springs from the author’s visit (she’s a climate scientist) to Antarctica as part of the Homeward Bound global leadership programme. While that sounds dry, interest is added to the story by the fact that she went with 99 other women. Antarctica is notorious for its male-dominated milieus (bases, labs etc), a reflection of the fact science has “colonized” the site for more than a century on behalf of a handful of (mainly powerful north hemisphere) nations – and that this process was led by men, mainly for male scientists and military personnel.

A short preface explains the author’s main purpose: “I’ve written this little book… with the hope of awakening the curiosity of the youngest about the Antarctic, and also, the rest of the world, so that we can be inspired to build a better world for everybody.

The story, written from the point of view of the child of the author (or, by extension, the child of any of the 100 women who went on the jolly/expedition), is straightforward: mum is a scientist and we see her in her cabin, sleeping under the stars; a sea lion wakes her up to tell her she is going the wrong way, and must go south; she thinks she sees the continent but an iceberg tells her “No!” and that the floating berg is only a part of Antarctica. The berg suggests mum follows her but to be careful not to crash. A whale burps having eaten a ton of krill. On deck the women discuss global warming and a storm arrives in the shape of dark clouds. We learn the team is made up of birders, marine biologists and other experts. All are asking lots of questions. Mum sends a letter home. Then, as the storm clears, we are in Antarctica chatting to penguins sitting on their eggs. An albatross advises the scientists (who can’t be up to much) that the sun doesn’t go down here. The scientists drink wine on the boat to celebrate their landing, like tourists.

The book signs off with a 2-page spread of nice facts about the polar region, and a plea to kids to educate adults to vote for politicians who accept the science and are concerned about global warming, and a plea from the animals to mum to spread the world

From the reader´s report by Suky Taylor