"Run for your lives!" cried the ship's captain. "Drop everything and get back on board. This isn't an island, after all. We've landed on a monstrous fish that has been asleep so long that the sands have settled over it and trees have sprung up on it."
So begins the first of Sinbad the Sailor's seven incredible voyages—seven tales of shipwreck and heroism, danger and disaster, fabulous treasures and terrifying monsters. This is the kind of tall-tale fantasy that has inspired Quentin Blake in illustrating this interpretation.
Often included in The Arabian Nights collections (though not originally part of them), the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor are set in the historic lands of the Middle East. The son of a rich merchant, Sinbad spends his time squandering his wealth until he realizes he must make better use of his fortune. So, with a ship full of valuable goods to trade, he sets sail from Baghdad on the first of his seven voyages that will take him through the Persian Gulf to far-flung islands where gold and jewels are traded for precious goods, and a sailor's fate depends on the strength of the wind, as he trusts his life and possessions to the sea.
With each new voyage there is some new disaster, and Sinbad is forced to call on his last ounce of strength and initiative to escape the many dangers he finds—gigantic birds, monstrous serpents, one-eyed giants, an island of cannibals. He visits strange kingdoms and deserted islands, and has to learn whom he can trust and who will try to destroy him.
John Yeoman's informal, first-person retelling brings an immediacy to the book that will attract many pre-teens to the fast-paced tales. And Quentin Blake's illustrations make a good match. In his usual frenetic, doodling style, they depict the exoticism of these mysterious lands: the glittering riches of kings and rich merchants, the remote islands and cities that Sinbad visits, the danger that hides in every shadow, and the mythical monsters and characters in every tale.
Contents:
- The Story of Sinbad the Sailor
- The First Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Third Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Fourth Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Fifth Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Sixth Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
- The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor
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