Marco Polo - Hardcover

Gr 3-7-Two overviews that focus on the men's expeditions and the times during which they took place rather than on details of the individuals' lives. Through this approach, readers become familiar with the significance of their endeavors in terms of world expansion, the cultures with which they dealt, and the hardships endured. The appealing format lends itself to easy use by student researchers, particularly reluctant readers. Each two-page spread is devoted to a portion of the trip with a large heading providing the topic covered. Detailed, full-color pen-and-watercolor illustrations and small text bits provide lifestyle and cultural details about the areas traveled. An interesting "What Happened Next" section fills in the aftermath of each man's journey. One inconsistency in Magellan is that his date of death is marked as 1522 in the introduction and yet the author has his crew going on without him in 1521. Jim Hargrove's Ferdinand Magellan (Children's, 1990; o.p.) and Rebecca Stefoff's Marco Polo and the Medieval Explorers (Chelsea, 1992) may be consulted where more detail is needed. Otherwise these are acceptable editions, especially for less-proficient readers.-Cheryl Cufari, Glencliff Elementary School, Niskayuna,

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