The Adventures of Marco Polo [Hardcover]

Demi (Author)

Book Description

A biography of the thirteenth-century Venetian merchant and traveler who spent twenty-five years in Asia and became the friend of Kublai Khan.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 3–7—This elegant, scholarly picture-book biography brings the explorer's fantastic journey to life. Born into a wealthy Venetian merchant family in 1254, Polo embarked on his famous trip to China at age 17 with his father and uncle, both accomplished explorers. A gifted storyteller, Demi weaves her subject's own accounts into a seamless tale of wonder. Traveling by boat, horse, pack mule, and camel, the group faced constant peril—bandits, pirates, vast deserts where "…eerie spirit voices…tried to lead them astray," mountains "so high and so cold that no birds flew," monsoons, dust storms, cannibals, illness, and murderous warriors. On their journey home after almost a quarter of a century, only 8 of a party of 600 survived. When they finally returned home, their amazing tales were often met with disbelief, even mockery. While defending his city during a war with Genoa in 1298, Marco was captured and imprisoned. He told his stories to a fellow prisoner—a writer, who recorded them in "the greatest travel book ever written," now known as The Travels of Marco Polo. The delicately rendered illustrations, painted with Chinese inks and gold overlays, often extend beyond their intricate frames of "Chinese and Indian embroidery and Italian, Arabian, and Persian designs…on silk." Dominated by red and gold, these miniatures capture the exotic beauty of 13th-century China.—Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

For a younger audience than Russell Freedman’s The Adventures of Marco Polo (2006), this biography of the great explorer includes a much shorter text, though there is still quite a lot of detail about his incredible 24-year world journey over 33,000 miles by land and sea, from Venice to the kingdom of Kublai Khan and China in the thirteenth century. And like Freedman, Demi raises ongoing questions about whether the story that Marco Polo told is all true. The focus here, though, is on Demi’s exquisitely detailed, elaborate art, and in her author’s note, she discusses how she encorporated design elements from the many cultures Marco Polo encountered on his journey: she painted with Chinese ink and created borders and frames with a mixture of Chinese and Indian embroidery, as well as Italian, Arabian, and Persian designs in gold and ink. A clear, double-page map showing Marco Polo’s amazing route is a beautiful climax. Grades 4-7. --Hazel Rochman --This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (February 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030612632
• ISBN-13: 978-0030612633
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,958,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Demi was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and now lives in Yarrow Point, Washington. Demi is the author and illustrator of more than one hundred children's books, including picture-book biographies. Her work has received numerous awards and accolades.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This gorgeous book about Marco Polo's quest to the far reaches of the world is mesmerizing!, June 21, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Marco Polo (School & Library Binding)

Marco Polo was born in 1254 in the San Severo Parish in Venice, Italy. He didn't meet his father until he was fifteen years old because Niccolo was a trader who went to far away places. In 1271 Marco went along with his father and uncle Maffeo to China on the trip of a lifetime that not only he would remember, but one that would be remembered for centuries to come. Kublai Khan, who was a very tolerant man, wanted them to bring "the holy oil from the tomb of Jesus" and "one hundred Christian Men" when they returned to China. If Christianity was the true religion, he would then know it. Pope Gregory X sent two letters for Kulai Khan.

They collected the oil in Jerusalem, along with two monks who later became afraid and left to return home. The marvelous journey did not stop at Ayas because of the Mamluks bandits, they simply continued on. They visited the site where Noah's ark had landed on top of Mount Ararat, near the Black and Caspian seas they saw "fountains of oil springing from the ground and in the Tabriz they bartered for pearls. All the while Marco was writing in his journal. He wrote about Baghdad, Kerman, the Rudbar Plain and its Karunas bandits, the Persian Gulf, the Silk Route, the Desert of Emptiness, Tunocain and on and on as they traveled through many unusual lands and saw many strange things. In 1275 they finally reached China and Khan invited them to Xanadu where Marco was later asked to be his ambassador. It would be more than twenty-four years until the Polos returned home to Venice, a place where no one, not even their families, recognized them.

The art work in this book is mesmerizing and could stand alone without the text. The story of Marco Polo and his adventures was very well written and would be easy for even the most reluctant reader to make it to the end with ease. For the price you have to pay for this book you are receiving a bargain and shouldn't hesitate to snap up a copy. As Marco Polo told a priest, "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed!" You won't believe how beautiful this book is!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating and beautiful, March 25, 2010

By 

Jen B (VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marco Polo (School & Library Binding)

Not only is this a absolutely beautiful book, (as all Demi books are!), the story was fascinating. I hadn't really read about Marco Polo, and got this from the library for my child. It was nice to read the biography of his early life and personal details, not just the story of his travels. I like how Demi presents the question of whether Polo, and his father and uncle, actually traveled to the places they claimed, fairly. There is apparently question about this, and, as the book says, even his own relatives and friends pressured him on his deathbed to admit he'd made up the stories. However, the things he reported lead one to think he must have been telling the truth about much of it, or how could he have known such wonders existed?
In any case, the story is riveting, and the illustrations gorgeous. We all enjoyed this book very much at our house, and I doubt we could find another version told so respectfully and delicately. The historical explanations that give both sides to the question of Marco Polo's claims made a lot of sense, and yet left the book unbiased, while somehow complete. You have to read it for yourself to see if you believe some, or all, of his fantastic adventures.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wanderlust, April 5, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Marco Polo (School & Library Binding)

Demi also illustrated our version of "King Midas" -- she has an easy-to-recognize style, and her illustrations are bewitching. All that gold.

This book works as a biography of Marco Polo, and also as a story of adventure. It showcases so many of the eastern cultures and customs. The last page is a brilliant map of Marco Polo's travels. Treasure this book.