Polo: The Runaway Book (Adventures of Polo) [Hardcover]

Regis Faller (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Adventures of Polo

Here's a new volume every bit as charming and as mesmerizing as its companion, The Adventures of Polo. When the resourceful dog sets aside his brand-new book and drifts off to sleep, a curious little creature makes off with it. Polo follows in hot pursuit, setting the stage for a new series of adventures--into the sky, to a mysterious cloud made of cotton candy, through fun-house mirrors, on hot air balloons, across a desert and into the jungle. As before, Polo's journey is packed with incident and expression--80 pages of seamless, satisfying picture storytelling that call to mind  the worlds of classic animated film, comics, and books.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2—Polo, the irrepressible and resourceful pooch readers first met in The Adventures of Polo (Roaring Brook, 2006), returns when a little alien steals his new book. He gives chase up strings, down ladders, through a fun-house mirror, in the air, and-well, wherever Faller's fertile imagination takes the little canine. Equipped only with his backpack and dogged determination, Polo follows the thief through graphic-novel-style wordless panels from one fantastic series of improbable adventures to another. Along the way he makes friends, effects rescues, and dodges danger in unexpected ways that will delight readers and confound expectations. Never at a loss in any crisis, the pup pulls from his backpack full banquets, a tuba, rope, and any number of items to help him overcome sticky situations. The chase's conclusion is satisfying, and all of the characters join Polo at his home for a grand celebration. The uncluttered, bright art has plenty of child appeal. Young readers will return often to pore over and revel in Polo's imaginative exploits.—Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Polo the dog receives a new book as a gift, but when he falls asleep, a curious little creature that looks like a ball of light takes it. The ensuing chase leads Polo into a series of fantastic adventures and gives him the opportunity to meet many new friends. The nearly wordless book (Polo occasionally calls out, "My book!") progresses in colorful panels across each page in a logical narrative that begs readers to supply dialogue. Faller has fun playing with the readers' expectations. In one sequence, Polo plants a magical seed that grows into a huge plant, but when he climbs to the top, he finds himself clinging to a dandelion-like puffball. The ending, when Polo finally catches up to the little creature, is a sweet celebration of reading. The oversize format and paint-box-bright colors make this a visual delight that can be used in prereading activities as well as for family sharing. Kat Kan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159643189X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596431898
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant... a ten-star gem!, October 5, 2007

By 

DJ Joe Sixpack (...in Middle America) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Polo: The Runaway Book (Adventures of Polo) (Hardcover)

Regis Faller's "Polo" picture books are absolutely brilliant and magical... These fab French imports feature Polo, a cheerful, indomitable cartoon dog with a flair for improvisation, bravery and boundless curiosity... The wordless, multi-panel graphic novels recall the fantastic, breathless wonder of the old "Tin-Tin" books, only without any real sense of danger, just pure adventure, fantasy, and fun.

In this volume, Polo returns, and so do the little green men: one of them sneaks into Polo's bedroom and steals his new book, starting a chase that takes them across the oceans, up into the sky, into a weird, white Limbo and into a cloud kingdom with a delicate princess who becomes Polo's friend. Picking up other friends along the way, Polo crosses deserts and rides clouds, frees a genie and climbs a giant dandelion, like Jack climbed the the beanstalk. Finally, after seventy color-filled pages, he catches up to the little green guy, who is reading the runaway book to a group of his friends. Polo sits down to listen, and when the story is over, the green guy gives it back to him.

Polo is an amazing reading experience, and it expects as much from its readers as it gives back. Adults can guide children through the story, commenting on each panel, or summarizing entire pages, creating the narrative as they go along. Children can also spend hours alone, pouring over the panels and making up stories of their own... and they will!

Highly recommended. One of our favorite books. (ReadThatAgain)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imaginative, Innovative & One of a kind!, February 28, 2007

By 

Heidi (California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Polo: The Runaway Book (Adventures of Polo) (Hardcover)

We LOVE the Polo books! They are some of the favorites on our bookshelf. There are no words, just lavish, very creative illustrations. Children can make up a new story each time they read. Polo drives clouds, plants magic beans and climbs a beanstalk, lands on pink clouds that are made of cotton candy, and most importantly, learns that friendship is the most important thing.

A++ from this family!

5.0 out of 5 stars Impossibly delightful, October 18, 2011

By 

Dienne (Cicero, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Polo: The Runaway Book (Adventures of Polo) (Hardcover)

We (my preschool daughters and I) become hooked on Polo after we stumbled on "The Adventures of Polo" at the library. After finishing that one, we eagerly checked out and read the shorter, smaller Polo books, but searched in vain for this one. I finally decided to break down and buy it, and what a great buy it is! Now I guess I'll have to break down and buy "Adventures" for our permanent collection too.

Like the other Polo books, this book uses bright, bold, colorful, mostly wordless comic-style panels to tell/show an utterly impossible yet completely believable adventure story of the plucky little dog Polo. The story begins even before the beginning with a prologue depicting Polo's friend Lily going to a bookstore that looks suspiciously like a teapot. After selecting just the right book, she has it wrapped and sent off via pelican to Polo's tiny island with his oversized tree house. "My book!" exclaims Polo.

The book proper opens with Polo settling in to read his book in his tree house bedroom. Polo begins to get drowsy, and so he turns off the light and snuggles in for a snooze, his precious book still resting on him. As he sleeps, however, we see a string descend into Polo's window and a mysterious yellow-green light with feet climbs down the string and begins reading Polo's book. The light's laughter awakens Polo, so the light grabs the book and makes a break for it back up the string.

In hot pursuit, Polo climbs up the same string. And climbs, and climbs, until he reaches the end of the string, which isn't attached to anything. Oops, Polo begins to fall, but fortunately he soon lands in a pink cloud of cotton candy. So begins the first of many of Polo's adventures in pursuit of the light and his book. Along the way, Polo meets many new friends and has many adventures which distract him from his chase of the elusive yellow light. But always at unexpected moments, the cunning little light pops back up and the chase is on.

Will Polo ever get his book back? Well, I hate to give away too much, but this being a Polo book, we sense from the beginning that not only will things work out in the end, but they will probably work out all the better for the adventure itself. As usual, we leave Polo safe and sound at his tree house, surrounded by all his newfound friends, along with some old friends.

I can't recommend the Polo books, including and especially this one, highly enough. Regis Faller is an artistic genius on a par with (although rather different from) Graeme Base. Each page contains new delights and subtle humor that will bring your and your little ones back for more and more. This book, along with the other Polo books, is perfect for children (and adults!) of all ages and reading abilities. Even non-readers will be able to "read" along and tell the story. In fact, I highly recommend letting your youngster tell you the story - you just might find new delights you didn't see before.