I recently learned about this book on NPR's The Leonard Lopate Show [...] and had to get a copy. It does not disappoint. A perfect way to read about history.

When I first heard about this, I didn't know what to think. A graphic novel made from a 17th century journal. But it works. Wonderfully illustrated. A great way to learn about a moment in our country's history and have a good time doing it.

This is a brightly colored illustrated book with cartoon like figures who tell the story of the Dutch's venture into the Americas. It is the Journal of a young traveler Harmen Van den Bogaret as he discovers the natives of the wilderness destined to become New York. The illustrations are very realistic and current to the time period so the history told comes alive to the reader.
Since the illustrations of the people are somewhat comical and so colorful the story is told with humor and not with the dignity that should be awarded the natives who gave the settlers welcome.

The real diary of a 23-year-old 16th-century Dutch trader forms the basis for this ambitious, if ultimately disapointing, graphic experiment. The Dutchman and two companions were sent from the Dutch West India Company's outpost at Fort Orange (present day Albany) into the Mohawk nation (part of the Iroqouis federation). Their goal was to try and reinvigorate the dying beaver pelt trade that was apparently being siphoned off by French traders operating from Canada. This isn't exactly the most riveting of topics, and the Van der Bogaert's painfully dry diary entries don't bring much to the table. There's a whole lot of description of walking, what they ate, counting of longhouses at Indian settlements, and sitting around waiting for guides. Simply put, other than a few isolated tidbits, such as the description of healing ceremony involving vomiting on the ill, and a ceremonial battle, the 140 pages are dull as ditchwater. Which is too bad, because O'Connor's artwork and Hilary Sycamore's excellent colors do bring the place and time to life. One wishes that a writer had used the diaries for background research, and written a good story around it -- now that would have been worth reading.