The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor

by John Yeoman (Adapted By), Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

Originally a part of the Arabian Nights stories, the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor are set in the historic lands of the Middle East. On each of Sinbad's journeys there is some disaster and Sinbad must call upon his last ounce of strength to escape the many dangers he finds. 36 black-and-white & 35 color illustrations.

Genres: Classics, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Childrens, Picture Books, Historical Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

John Yeoman was for many years Head of English at the French Lycée in London. His collaboration with Quentin Blake began in 1960, and has resulted in a long list of successful children’s books of which a number of earlier well-loved titles are now being republished by Andersen Press for new generations of readers.

Reviews

[Robbie Cheadle]

This is a book that I remember from my childhood and has stayed in my memory all my life. When I found this beautifully illustrated copy at our local book store, I had to buy it to read to my two sons who were small at the time.

The story stars with Sinbad the Porter, a poor man, resting outside the magnificent home of a wealthy man. While he is resting he sings a song he made up about the great difference in circumstances between those of means and those who have little. Sinbad the sailor, the master of the great house, overhears him and requests that he joins him and his guests and sings his song. Afterwards, Sinbad the sailor recounts the stories of the seven dangerous voyages during which he earned his riches. Each voyage was fraught with peril and he encountered numerous dangerous creatures, barbaric and sometimes mythical, whom he had to outwit in order to survive.

My favourite creatures from these tales are as follows:
1. the the giant Roc which features in his second voyage, in which Sinbad manages to use his intelligence to escape from a hostile valley inhabited by huge serpents;
2. the Old Man of the Sea who enslaves Sinbad during his fifth voyage by wrapping his legs tightly around his shoulders and refusing to let get. He makes Sinbad run about carrying him until he is ready to drop dead. Sinbad manages to trick the evil creature and kill him;
3. The cyclops with a single burning red eye, who aims to roast and eat each of the shipwrecked sailors, including Sinbad, one by one. Sinbad hatches a plan to kill the giant and escape.

These stories emanate from the Middle East and are full of adventure, action and bravery.

[Kiersten]

"It is a very good book to read if you like books that are full of adventure, beautiful places, and strange people." - Peggy, 6 years old

[Phoebe]

A great way to introduce these stories to kids who can listen to a longer book. Quentin Blake's lively illustrations and John Yeoman's retellings (the two also teamed up for the great Mouse Trouble, one of the funniest picture books around) are a perfect match and the large format is gorgeous. Very nicely done.

[Anugrah Nagaich]

Read when I was still young, this story (better than Gulliver's Travels) has the potential for making kids more interested for fiction. Although elders won't enjoy it, but gift this to kids & they'll remember you for a long time.

[Cheryl]

Retelling. Pretty watercolor illustrations sprinkled throughout the book.

[Zahra tavakoli]

اگر نمی‌دانستید، بدانید که قصه سفرهای سندباد از قصه‌های هزار و یک شب است. داستانی پرماجرا که گوشه‌هایی از آن را در انیمیشن سفرهای سندباد دیده‌ایم. قالب داستان بسیار جذاب است و کتاب را خواندنی کرده. سفرهایی طولانی که فقط هفتمین آن به اذعان خود سندباد بحری بیست و دو سال طول کشیده، اگر همه را با هم جمع کنیم جناب سندباد عمری حداقل صد و پنجاه ساله دارد. این اغراق را بگذاریم کنار خطرهای عجیب و غریبی که هر سفر داشته و اتفاقات ترسناکی که برایش افتاده و خودش هر بار توبه می‌کرده که خدایا غلط کردم ناز و نعمت را قدر ندانستم و کارم به اینجا کشید... اواخر کتاب لبخند بر لب می‌آوریم که چه داستان غریبی.
نکته عجیب داستان قساوت قلب سندباد در هنگام مواجهه با خطر بود که به راحتی با زدن استخوان بر سر افراد بی‌گناه آن‌ها را می‌کشت تا خود زنده بماند. نمی‌دانم اگر در انیمیشن این قسمت‌ها به تصویر کشیده شده بود، شدت مخاطرات و حوادث هم‌چنان سندباد را جزو شخصیت‌های محبوب قصه‌های کودکی‌ام باقی می‌گذاشت؟!

[Marissa is cool]

I loved this book. I would dedicate class time to discussing each voyage. Maybe a discussion going through each voyage would be great. Especially when talking about heroes journey or just classic twists and turns. This book was great and I loved the graphic parts that usually aren’t in these books.

[Cala]

T (6) enjoyed listening to me read aloud Sinbad's tales because they are adventurous, silly, unrealistic, and fun. It was a bit tough on the tongue as a read aloud. It had to be read a bit slowly or the details of the events were lost to the listener.

Con: Many references to cannibalism

[Marcel Schwarze]

Seven voyages, seven shipwrecks, seven times being the only one to survive peril and always finding treasure or generous kings.

Robinson Crusoe could never.
Never travel by ship if Sinbad is with you!

[Robin Helweg-Larsen]

The stories are repetitive, and the geography gets increasingly impossible towards the end, but it's good to have run through the seven voyages and seen where things like 'the old man of the sea' come into our culture. And Quentin Blake's illustrations are always perfect for crazy kids' stories.

[Katrina Rose]

Perfect for all!
Fascinating adventures!
A man who is wealtny, humble, and selfless! He cares for his crew , the poor, and saves princesses!

[Ceren]

Nostalgic stories.

[Damita Perez]

This was a fun and easy read.

[Wouter Janssen]

Sindbad is a legend (literally)!

[Laura]

Sinbad the Sailor's 7 voyages are perhaps some of the most popular tales in Arabian Nights and get their own treatment in this children(ish) book. There's lots of swashbuckling and adventure and Fate! There are snakes the size of ogres and ogres the size of rhinos and rhinos that lift elephants on their horn and get blinded and eaten by birds the size of....well, rhinos.

So, the story itself is lots of fun, even if some of the themes in a few of the voyages talk a lot about death and that weird one with cannibalism and stuff like that. But it's a bigger kid's book at around 100 pages, probably meant for the 7-10 crowd who won't get too spooked by that kind of thing.

But the art lacks a lot. Where it would have been nice to get the lush imagery described (and briefly described at that, this is a re-telling of the original tales after all), we get sticks in heaps and skritch drawings. I could draw these pictures. I don't know exactly what the point was of this. I don't know what the author meant by this. If they were meant to look childish, it's a big success (I don't mean that favorably). If he wanted the reader to imagine these places and things for themselves, it is a huge failure). The book itself is very large, which would lend itself well to gorgeous pictures to accompany the words. Instead we are treated to chicken-scratch Sinbad and a huge font storybook, which is totally unnecessary.

Basically, I wanted this:


But I got this:

[Debbie]

This is a book of short stories telling the tale of the 7 voyages of sinbad the sailor. Each voyage is a separate story of between 10-15 pages wth illustration and begins with Sinbad retelling his adventures to friends. This format worked well as a bedtime story as I was able to read one voyage at a time. The perils are a little scary for under 7's and there is alot of death. I found them short enough to hold my kids interest but for me they were too hurried. I never want to set sail from Basra, those seas are really dangerous !

[Erma Talamante]

A wonderful retelling of a classic story, complete with illustrations. This retelling is complete, and teaches the lessons of perseverance, honesty, dedication, and the true wealth in life. Sinbad the Sailor, through his stories, teaches these lessons, as well as the lesson of being content with what you have in life to Sinbad the Porter, a man that he encounters outside his house one day. Lessons that are as import for children, as well as adults.

[Meghan]

I listened to this as a book on tape from BJ Harrison's Classic Tales Podcast. I can't recommend this highly enough--he really makes the story come alive in his variety of voices, musical soundtrack, and dedication to the text! It's the type of story that I think kids deserve to hear read to them just as much as adults.

Recommended to: parents wanting a little more adventure in their storytime with the kiddos, podcast or audiobook fans with long commutes, anybody who loves fairy tales

[Elizabeth Licitra]

I was pretty surprised how much the kids enjoyed this book, read during our study of ancient history. I too, looked forward to real aloud time as I had never heard these adventures. I don't usually enjoy these type of stories.

[Nashwa]

OOOOOh my god i was so young ..when my mom started to read that book to me.. it was on fave book that time

[Thomas]

Great book - Abigail Loved it! She wants me to either dig out one of my versions of the Arabian Nights tomorrow or start on The Jungle Book. We'll see what happens.

[Kelly Nielsen]

1 part Gulliver, 1 part lost world, 6 parts robinson cruesoe. nothing great, but it predates other stories, so I guess it gets points for originality.

[Nikhil Talwar]

Simply Awesome. No words to describe :)

[MuNnaza TehrEem]

goodie

[Kym Robinson]

I really loved this book as a child. A rich and superb adventure.

[Judy]

A very good re-telling of these tales with the usual fabulous fare from Quentin Blake.

[Kristyn]

All three of my children loved this. Lots of fun.

Read-aloud, boys, 7, 5, 2.