Sindbad in the Land of Giants

Czech-Canadian artist, animator and author Ludmila Zeman returns to the story of Sindbad the Sailor in this follow-up to the eponymous Sindbad: From the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights. Here Sindbad continues to narrate his adventures to the poor porter (also named Sindbad) that he is hosting, describing his second great voyage, and how he encountered many terrible beasts and giants, after his ship was overtaken by a troupe of monkeys and he and his companions were forced to abandon it...

Like its predecessor, Sindbad in the Land of the Giants pairs an immensely engrossing and exciting narrative with absolutely beautiful illustrations. Although the story cycle from which the Sindbad stories come, The Arabian Nights, is more often show more associated with Arab folklore, Zeman chose to honor its Persian influences in her artwork, which is gorgeously ornate. Recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed Zeman's first volume of Sindbad stories, as well as to anyone looking for children's picture-book retellings from The Arabian Nights. show less

In this story Sinbad the Sailor is telling of one of his adventures to Sinbad the Porter. He tells of a story where he and his shipmates set out on a journey and got lost. When they finally saw land they realized it was not a good place. Monkeys took over and ruined their ship so some of them went overboard and others went to land. Once they got to land they saw a castle and were relieved until they realized it was a wicked giant who lived there. Some of the men died and some escaped when the giant got two bamboo polls to the eyes. After a treacherous sea ride only Sinbad the Sailor and one other man survived. They finally came to an island where they encountered a rhino, alligator, and snake before the other man was eaten by the snake. show more Sinbad the sailor then continued on the journey and finally after making his own raft was plucked from the river by foreign men and given a boat to get home. This was a great read. There was a lot of action and adventure put into a short story. I would be wary of reading this to young students as it is somewhat violent and could even be seen as scary. I enjoyed the story and I think that students in upper elementary level classes would enjoy it as well. show less

I did not like the illustrations. M: I didn't like the pictures. I only looked at the pictures because it was too scary.