Some books are simply read. Others, as the authors themselves put it, leave "a little blue star lit inside, beating." Antarctic Tales and a Bit More belongs to the second kind: an illustrated children's book, now available as a free download, inviting children to discover Chile's Antarctic Territory through five stories starring curious penguins, adventurous leopard seals, and families who, from Punta Arenas, learn to look south.

One book, two languages, one invitation to the white continent

Antarctic Tales and a Bit More is available in both English and Spanish, with the Gateway Cities' Antarctic families and the wider international community following Antarctic science and logistics in mind. The English edition was reviewed from New Zealand by Ana María de Vos Sánchez and Clive de Vos, "stretching an invisible thread that joins the oceans," as the book's own acknowledgments put it.

The book holds Chilean Intellectual Property Registration 2026-P-11756 and ISBN 978-956-03-0482-7, and was sponsored by a number of private individuals and organizations so that it could be offered completely free of charge.

Five stories, five doorways into Chile's Antarctic Territory

The book brings together five tales, each led by a different child, framed by an introduction and an epilogue:

• Dad's Great Journey to Antarctica — a story for Florencia, about an Antarctic historian who travels to the anniversary of Professor Julio Escudero Base, and the daughter waiting for him back in Punta Arenas.
• Pipo and the Star of the South — the adventures of a curious penguin who asks questions all day long.
• Estela and the Secrets of the Ice — a five-year-old girl follows her scientist father's work and discovers what Chilean researchers actually do on the ice.
• Ramón and the Ship of the South — a boy from a Navy family grows up hearing, beside his father's sea chest, the adventures of Piloto Pardo and the AP-45 «Piloto Pardo» sailing toward the Chilean Antarctic Territory.
• The Hug That Crossed the Sea — the closing tale, which brings together the family stories that Antarctica both separates and reunites.

Woven through the stories, in a more historical register, are figures such as pilot Luis Pardo Villalón and the rescue of the Shackleton expedition aboard the escampavía Yelcho, the schooner Dragón de Valparaíso and its arrival at Deception Island, the signing of the decree on November 6, 1940 by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda, and the legal work of professor Julio Escudero in defending Chile's Antarctic territorial claim. Fiction, yes — but grounded firmly in Chile's real Antarctic history.

The author

Antarctic Tales and a Bit More was written by Francisco Sánchez Urra, a History teacher with a Master's degree in History from Universidad de Valparaíso, a Master's degree in Military Sciences and Strategic Planning from the Chilean Army War Academy, and creator of the Antarctic Ambassadors program, with support from María Pastora Sandoval Campos, a journalist from Universidad de Santiago de Chile, holder of a Master's degree in Communication and Digital Journalism from Universidad Mayor, and creator of this very site, Mirador Antártico.

Illustrations were created by Universidad de Playa Ancha academic Felipe Vergara Lasnibat, under the pen name "Davo Aragrev," whose watercolors bring color to some of the book's most heartfelt passages.

A collaborative effort from Magallanes and the wider Antarctic community

The book is also the result of community work: it was reviewed by second-year secondary students at Liceo Bicentenario "James Mundell" in Cholchol, in the Araucanía region; supported by the Antarctic Ambassadors program of Fundación Huellas Magallánicas; developed in collaboration with the Cabo de Hornos International Center and Universidad de Magallanes (ANID BASAL FB210018 Project); and backed by the Municipality of Cabo de Hornos, the Chilean Antarctic Institute, and private sponsors including Antarctic Base, Agua Nozomu, and Isoterma Zero.

Download the book

Antarctic Tales and a Bit More is available as a free download, in English and Spanish, directly on Mirador Antártico.

Because every story told about the white continent is a way of bringing it closer. At Mirador Antártico, we keep opening windows to the south, one story at a time.