Acme Ideas

We raise our children in our own self-image, which is why it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that my male-child is developing into a decidedly unsporty, encyclopedia reading, fact spouting geek. In a good way I hasten to add. So it was refreshing to see him sprinting round an autumnal Hampstead Heath this weekend and developing his own rules for explorers. To the best of my recollection these are;

1) An explorer never gives up

2) An explorer always chooses the hardest path

3) An explorer never rests

4) An explorer doesn't need to go home for lunch

It's not an original thought but being out and about seems to bring out the best 'boyish' qualities in us. The boy has never before shown an interest in the idea of 'exploration' and this encouraged me to find some books that I remembered from my childhood which had been waiting on our shelves for just this moment.

I must have got these books from my grandparents because they are far older than I thought. They were first published in 1926 and each is inscribed 'In memory of Sir John Keltie, Jan: 12th 1927' - Sir John Scott Keltie was formerly Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society and is credited as co-author of the series, with Samuel Carter Gilmour, Travel Editor of The Field. Written as they were nearly 85 years ago, there's plenty that needs to be translated for a child born in 2003.

"There were no railways or motorcars or steamers."

So far we've read about Columbus discovering the Americas and we're looking forward to reading about Vasco De Gama's Voyage to India. We're learning about why people thought the earth was flat and how Indiana Jones' motto 'Fortune and Glory' harks back to the explorers of yore. But one thing that I am enjoying particularly in rediscovering these books is how nice it is to read something that wasn't written in the last five years. Reading eighty-five year old books about Columbus and De Gama and Raleigh and Cortes is probably as enjoyable as reading modern books about the same adventurers - the stories are still some of the most interesting and exciting ever told and haven't dated one bit.

Adventures in Exploration indeed.