Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? [Paperback]

When Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in 1519, he believed he could get to the Spice Islands by sailing west through or around the New World. He was right, but what he didn't know was that the treacherous voyage would take him three years and cost him his life. Black-and-white line drawings illustrate Magellan's life and voyage, with sidebars and a time line that enhance readers' understanding of the period.S. A. KRAMER is the author of many nonfiction early readers on topics as varied as submarines and the first summit of Mount Everest. She has written many sports readers, including the recently revised edition of Basketball’s Greatest Players. Kramer lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

To Hopey, who’s been around the world too—S.K.

For Bill—E.W.

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Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

Imagine a time when no one was sure the Earth was round … when people believed they’d topple over the edge if they sailed too far from home. Imagine a time when most people didn’t know there was a Pacific Ocean. Go back five hundred years, when whole continents were still undiscovered, when people thought the Earth was tiny and that monsters swam through its waters. Yet one man decided to sail his ship through unknown seas and discover what was out there.

He was not the first to make such a perilous voyage. But he went farther and stayed away longer than anyone had before. Because of his brains and courage, he is known for being the first man to circumnavigate—sail around—the globe.

Who was he?

Ferdinand Magellan.

Chapter 1
The Boy Becomes a Man

Sometime around 1480 in Portugal, a boy named Ferdinand was born to the Magellan family. The Magellans were of noble blood, but they had little money or power. They owned a farm far from the sea.l8