This brave French explorer made his first sea voyage when he was still a boy. As a young man he sailed across the wide Atlantic to the land he wanted most to explore - the little known New World. Here Champlain met with all kinds of dangers and difficulties: long cold winters, the search for a northwest passage to China, Indian wars, treachery. But he had also the thrills of discovery and of starting and governing the first permanent colony for France. The story of these exciting historic events is told simply and vividly for young readers, and the vigorous pictures add to the book's appeal.