The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela: Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century

Imagine a time when streets were narrow and dirty, towns were surrounded by walls, brigands lurked alongside roads that were treacherous and few, bridges over rivers were rare, and a man setting out on a journey never knew if he would return alive. It was the year 1159 when the medieval Jewish traveler Benjamin left his native town of Tudela in northern Spain on an adventure to see the places he had read about in the Bible. He traveled for fourteen years - from Rome to Constantinople to Jerusalem to Baghdad, among others - by ship, by cart, and on foot, enduring great hardships in his quest for knowledge of other places and people.

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because of the historical fiction aspect and the personal stories that one man (Benjamin) has from his journey around the world. But I didn't like some of the content within the stories that were told. This book is obviously made for older elementary students and even middle school students. Personally, I would use this book in a fifth grade class as a read aloud and then pair it with a history and/or geography lesson on the particular region that Benjamin was traveling through. Also, to continue with comprehension on the concepts in the book, I would have the students do a creative project focusing on one of the regions discussed.
The illustrations within the book show more are very vivid and bright, and therefore capture the attention of the reader. In addition, they are a good representation of what these regions would look like during the year 1159. This book, although not necessarily non-fiction, allows the readers to get a sense for life during this time period. Not many books focus on this time period and these students will then be prepared for when they learn about this period later in their academic careers. Also, the language used throughout the stories presents many opportunities for students to learn new vocabulary and to compare and contrast the language between 1159 and the language used today. show less

The travels of Benjamin of Tudela felt more informative than I expected. I thought I would be taken on this adventurous quest to see the world during the 12th century for all the religious cites it had to offer. While I did gather much about the way religion had an affect of people of the time period, I was not very amazed by the way the travels were depicted. A man named Benjamin travels from his home to see all of the sites that are of importance to the Jewish religion. The setting is important because it shows what that side of the world was like during a time that is so long ago that it is hard to fathom. We read about the ways he traveled, the places he saw, and the reasons for conflict. All of the conflicts had to do with show more religion, which I thought was interesting.
This book had no clear direction to me. I knew the main character was going on a quest to see all of the sites that were important to him and his religion, but there were no big interesting moments. I did not feel that there was a climax or a build up of any sort. It felt monotone. I did learn much about the Jewish religion through a fictional story, though. I enjoy reading about the things that people believe in and this book was great for that. I just wish it had more of a story line. The illustrations were very pretty, though. When the city of Constantinople is talked about, there are beautifully drawn and colored palaces and decorations scattered on the pages. show less

This historical fiction book is about the travels of Benjamin, a Jewish man from Tudela, Spain. In 1159, which was more than one hundred years before Marco Polo, Benjamin went on a fourteen year long journey that brought him to Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Persia, and Egypt. The illustrations are beautiful and really match the text very well. I think this book would be better to use in an upper elementary classroom or even middle school classrooms. I thought the font was pretty small for young children to read and the book was pretty lengthy. There are also lots of words in the book that I think several young children wouldn't be able to understand.

A retelling for children of Benjamin of Tudela's travels to three continents 100 years before Marco Polo. There are sidebars with additional history. The author explains that in order to make the book more accessible to children he personalized it and added details about what travel was like then to Benjamin's more straightforward account.

Based on the Book of Travels of the 12th century explorer Benjamin of Tudela, called by Shulevitz in his author’s note “the greatest medieval Jewish traveler.” This book is quite lengthy and is not so much a picture book as an illustrated epic, difficult to read in a single sitting, or even several sittings. The small black font was a poor choice. However, it is greatly improved by the complex and informative illustrations.

A good companion for geographic study for young people if the locations are approached slowly, one per area, rather than all at once.

Known only from the book he wrote about his travels, Benjamin left Spain in 1159 and spent fourteen years
traveling. This beautifully illustrated chronicle describes and shows a 12th century world as it might have been experienced by Benjamin of Tudela, complete with muddy roads, searing deserts, walled cities and mighty seas.