Non-Fiction: Picturebook
Miller, Debbie The Great Serum Race. Illust. by Jon Van Zyle. Walker & Co., 2002. Unp. Middle school
In the winter of 1925, Nome, Alaska, was struck by an outbreak of diphtheria. The only cure was the antitoxin serum located in Anchorage. As the only way to get it to Nome was by dogsled, twenty teams travelled for 600 miles in six days in a brutal relay race. Some of the dogs, including Togo and Balto, became heroes. This event is commemorated every March with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Told in the third person point of view, this informative, heartwarming story has an historical survival theme.
Jon Van Zyle’s wonderful oil paintings depict the extreme conditions and beauty of the land.
AK: Nome, Anchorage, Sled Dogs, Iditarod, Alaskan places and history
Activities: This would be a great book to read in class right before the Iditarod Race starts in the spring. Have the students follow the teams and their route on a large classroom map for the duration of the race. Ask them how it is different today than it was for those early dogs and mushers. ( )

The Great Serum Race is a historical perspective of the first Iditarod run. Nome, Alaska experienced a diphtheria outbreak during the winter of 1925. Anchorage, Alaska was the only city with the needed anti-toxin serum needed to help lift the quarantine. Twenty mushing teams were gathered to bring the serum in the blizzard subzero conditions over 600 miles. The relay race was completed in 6 days, which is commemorated every year in March, by the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog race.

I loved the illustrations for the book. They were full page illustrations, which helps progress the story. The paintings portray the native Alaskans, and the Northern Lights well. These can be things readers are not familiar with. The pictures helped display weather conditions, and even made me feel cold as a reader.

The story itself presented the story simply. The language was not too complicated. I found I wanted to get through the story to see if the town of Nome was able to get the serum. Especially since the temperatures were so extremely low, and the package had been lost.

The main theme of the book was to give a background and the significance of the first Iditarod. ( )

http://talesofarampaginglibrarian.blogspot.com/2006/12/for-picture-books-that-re... ( )