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THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR

Name: THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR
Author: John Yeoman
ISBN: 0-689-81368-6

adapted by John Yeoman & illustrated by Quentin Blake ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1997

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A splendiferous new presentation of an ageless yarn, replete with disasters, exotic lands, sumptuous palaces, fortunes lost and won back, and horrible monsters: ``We saw . . . a giant-like creature . . . his lower lip hung down like a camel's over his chest, his ears flopped over his shoulders like an elephant's, and his fingernails were like a lion's claws. I nearly passed out at the sight of him.'' Once Yeoman (also with Blake, The Singing Tortoise, 1994, etc.), through Sinbad, begins to weave his storyteller's spell, readers will want to plunge through right to the end (although a ribbon is bound into the book, should there be a need to mark a stopping point). The text has been edited for ease and fluency; the grandeur of older renditions has been preserved while long speeches and flowery rhetoric have been cut down. In a plethora of full-color and black-and-white watercolor wash illustrations that range from elaborate full-page compositions to tiny, almost abstract scribbles, Blake places gesticulating figures into situations that seem more exciting than dangerous. A fine design with a generous use of white space gives this volume the look and feel of the classic it is. (Folklore. 10-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-689-81368-6

Page Count: 119

Publisher: McElderry

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
MEET THE FAMILY
by John Yeoman ; illustrated by Quentin Blake

- BOOK REVIEW
THREE LITTLE OWLS
by Emanuele Luzzati ; illustrated by Quentin Blake ; translated by John Yeoman

- BOOK REVIEW
QUENTIN BLAKE'S AMAZING ANIMAL STORIES
by John Yeoman & illustrated by Quentin Blake

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PERCY JACKSON'S GREEK GODS

by Rick Riordan ; illustrated by John Rocco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 2014

The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.

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Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.

Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”

The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS
by Rick Riordan

- BOOK REVIEW
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS
by Rick Riordan

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SUN AND THE STAR
by Rick Riordan & Mark Oshiro

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NIM'S ISLAND

by Wendy Orr & illustrated by Kerry Millard ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

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A child finds that being alone in a tiny tropical paradise has its ups and downs in this appealingly offbeat tale from the Australian author of Peeling the Onion (1999). Though her mother is long dead and her scientist father Jack has just sailed off on a quick expedition to gather plankton, Nim is anything but lonely on her small island home. Not only does she have constant companions in Selkie, a sea lion, and a marine iguana named Fred, but Chica, a green turtle, has just arrived for an annual egg-laying—and, through the solar-powered laptop, she has even made a new e-mail friend in famed adventure novelist Alex Rover. Then a string of mishaps darkens Nim’s sunny skies: her father loses rudder and dish antenna in a storm; a tourist ship that was involved in her mother’s death appears off the island’s reefs; and, running down a volcanic slope, Nim takes a nasty spill that leaves her feverish, with an infected knee. Though she lives halfway around the world and is in reality a decidedly unadventurous urbanite, Alex, short for “Alexandra,” sets off to the rescue, arriving in the midst of another storm that requires Nim and companions to rescue her. Once Jack brings his battered boat limping home, the stage is set for sunny days again. Plenty of comic, freely-sketched line drawings help to keep the tone light, and Nim, with her unusual associates and just-right mix of self-reliance and vulnerability, makes a character young readers won’t soon tire of. (Fiction. 10-12)