Las Aventuras de Marco Polo (the Adventures of Marco Polo)

Description: Tells the story of Marco Polo's journey to China, describing some of the things he saw while in the service of Kublai Khan. Written in graphic-novel format.

Review Quotes: These series titles bring important historical episodes to life through a graphic-novel format. Smalley employs a story-within-a-story setting as Marco Polo, a prisoner of war in Genoa, recounts his astounding trip from Venice to China and back in the late 13th century. Bandits, inclement weather, and the amazing kingdom of Kublai Khan all appear in this quickly moving tale of discovery. Doeden devotes the majority of the book to delineating the major personalities-Travis, Bowie, Crockett, and Santa Anna-and the siege itself. It is unfortunate that the Texans are uniformly pale-skinned and the Mexicans quite dark, even to the palms of Santa Anna's hands. The back matter, however, notes that Hispanic Texans were also involved in the fight for Texas' independence from Mexico. Olsen begins with the assassination in Ford's Theatre and continues with the vigil of several hours and with the escape and capture of John Wilkes Booth. In all three books, the comic-book format serves to convey rapidly and vividly the events being portrayed, and the mix of conversation, narration, and artwork invites young readers in. Each title includes extensive back matter: a two-page prose chapter offering more information about the topic, a glossary, a bibliography, a list for further reading, Internet recommendations, and a detailed index. Though the storytelling format almost demands some fictionalization, these are tightly written, exciting episodes from history, with richly colored illustrations full of incidental detail. Sure to be popular in all libraries serving upper elementary and junior high students.-- "CriticasMagazine.com"