As one who read Walk the World’s Rim aloud, I rate the book quite highly: a seven or eight out of ten. I remembered the names of Panfilo de Navarrez and Esteban from Florida History back when I was nine years old, but that’s all they were to me: names. Reading Walk the World’s Rim helped me to see these historical figures as real people rather than just names in a textbook. Traveling such great distances, and for so long, as Esteban and the Spaniards did, is hard to fathom, and this book helps the reader to understand what such a journey must have been like. Baker combines historical fact with vivid, imaginative descriptions of people, terrain, and events, putting the reader right in the middle of history. Centering the story around Esteban, a Moroccan who was sold into slavery to the Spanish as a youth, also provides a necessary corrective to the story as often told in the history books, in which such topics as slavery and genocide are often whitewashed. In all, Walk the World’s Rim is a well-rounded, enjoyable read.

Our Library entry for Walk The World’s Rim.

Here is Birdie’s student review.