THE TRAVELS OF MAGNUS POLE

by Jonathan Wills ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 22, 1975

Deep colored (magic marker?) stylized waves and childlike figure drawings constitute a series of vibrant stills depicting the misadventures of Scottish farmer Magnus Pole who likes to fish and hates to make flour with the tedious, primitive knocking stone. Wills' deadpan narrative sets Magnus adrift in his fishing boat, has him revel with Norwegians, travel to Russia with Swedish sailors and then, with some traders on camels, to Tibet where he learns about a water wheel he can use for grinding his flour. Thus Magnus ends up home, still in his Viking helmet, with the idea that will replace his hated grinding stone. Unfortunately the prose and illustration styles of this clever little travelogue/spoof fight against each other; the overstimulating pictures set up expectations that are unsatisfied by the flat, unsensational text, and at the same time they lack the sustaining detail that the relatively lengthy facing paragraphs demand.

Pub Date: Oct. 22, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1975

Categories: CHILDREN'S