Kon-Tiki and I

Rating:
Summary: A Forgotten Masterpiece
Review: Kon-Tiki and I is out of print! Agh, that's appalling! It's one of the best books a kid could ever read. Hesselberg was Thor Heyerdahl's navigator on their voyage from Peru to Tahiti on a balsawood raft. Hesselberg is a great storyteller and caricaturist, and his illustrations of the trip are perfectly integrated with the deft, simple narrative. He's much more modest about it all than Heyerdahl--so much so that you may forget how unlikely it seemed to everyone but the crew that this absurd handmade craft would ever survive the voyage. Hesselberg's account is, among other things, very funny--and his illustrations make it even funnier. His sketch of himself dancing a hula in sheepskin pants makes it easy to see why the watching villagers were, as he tells it, reduced to gasping and moaning with laughter.

One of the few truly joyous books in the world. Get a copy if you can. If you have any kids, get them a copy at all costs.