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Caravan by R. A. Montgomery takes YOU on an adventure across Tibet en route to India. Your 6-8 year old reader will learn about different cultures while trading silks, spices, and teas, brave the long and dangerous journey across the mountains, and watch the most beautiful fireworks display ever! Choose Your Own Adventure Caravan is an interactive adventure book in which YOU decide what happens next. Can you trust an old man that's dressed like a monk? Or is he really a spy? If you try to sneak past bandits in the night, will you escape to safety? For readers that enjoyed other titles from the Choose Your Own Adventure Dragonlark series including: Your Purrr-fect Birthday by R. A. Montgomery, Indian Trail by R. A. Montgomery, and The Lake Monster Mystery by Shannon Gilligan.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
37 people want to read
About the author
R.A. Montgomery
156 books121 followersRaymond A. Montgomery (born 1936 in Connecticut) was an author and progenitor of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure interactive children's book series, which ran from 1979 to 2003. Montgomery graduated from Williams College and went to graduate school at Yale University and New York University (NYU). He devoted his life to teaching and education.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
In 2004, he co-founded the Chooseco publishing company alongside his wife, fellow author/publisher Shannon Gilligan, with the goal of reviving the CYOA series with new novels and reissued editions of the classics.
He continued to write and publish until his death in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 28, 2024
Every kid at some point wishes to be someone else, in a different time and place. Caravan wants to be that opportunity, a story far removed from the modern Western world to an arena few young readers are familiar with. Lhasa, Tibet, the year 1696: your father is packing supplies for a long journey to India as part of a community trade caravan. For years you have wanted to accompany him on this trip, but your mother said no every time, and her opinion hasn't changed that you are not old enough to travel through craggy mountains and barren deserts, vulnerable to bandit attacks. But this year, you've waited too long to let your chance pass. Should you ask one more time to go along, or sneak out and join the caravan without your parents' knowledge?
Taking a measured approach has upside: circumstances force your father's friend Chodak to pull out the night before the caravan leaves, and you are chosen to take his place, along with your friend Sangee. A few weeks into the trip, deep in the Pamir Mountains, you are awoken one night by bright lights and a singsong tone in the distance. Exploring on your own may result in a confrontation with the legendary Yeti, but if you take Sangee with you, beware of falling mountain rocks. Are they a warning from the gods? If you push onward, you'll be rewarded with a display of lights and music that could not possibly originate in the natural world. This sort of surprising experience is why you wanted to be with the caravan in the first place.
Sneaking to join the caravan without permission may feel like an ominous choice, but it isn't so bad. Once you find their camp that first night, a caravan leader named An Sering approaches. He could use a helper; do you wish to join his team? An Sering is a reliable, industrious man, and he'll ask you to either scout ahead for danger or stay back from the front lines and take care of the ponies. The pony job has its perks, but there's still a long, perilous way to India and back. Maybe scouting beside An Sering is better: you'll learn to protect and provide for the people and animals under your watch, exactly what your father needs to see to realize you deserve to be here. If you decide not to work for An Sering, you'll meet an elderly holy man who has given up material wealth for a life of religious contemplation. You can help him find either food or shelter, and may wind up overhearing a plot by bandits to attack the caravan. Can you intervene before your dream trip to India turns traumatic?
I'm rounding my one-and-a-half-star rating of Caravan to two, but by the barest of margins. The problem is, the rich story concept isn't given room to breathe: every time there's a glimmer of action, you run smack into an ending before anything really happens. Even in a book this short, your international journey could be a coming-of-age narrative that brims with excitement and acquired wisdom, but R.A. Montgomery doesn't seem eager to push his own literary limits. Too bad, because what might have been the finest Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure of all is instead no better than average.
Taking a measured approach has upside: circumstances force your father's friend Chodak to pull out the night before the caravan leaves, and you are chosen to take his place, along with your friend Sangee. A few weeks into the trip, deep in the Pamir Mountains, you are awoken one night by bright lights and a singsong tone in the distance. Exploring on your own may result in a confrontation with the legendary Yeti, but if you take Sangee with you, beware of falling mountain rocks. Are they a warning from the gods? If you push onward, you'll be rewarded with a display of lights and music that could not possibly originate in the natural world. This sort of surprising experience is why you wanted to be with the caravan in the first place.
Sneaking to join the caravan without permission may feel like an ominous choice, but it isn't so bad. Once you find their camp that first night, a caravan leader named An Sering approaches. He could use a helper; do you wish to join his team? An Sering is a reliable, industrious man, and he'll ask you to either scout ahead for danger or stay back from the front lines and take care of the ponies. The pony job has its perks, but there's still a long, perilous way to India and back. Maybe scouting beside An Sering is better: you'll learn to protect and provide for the people and animals under your watch, exactly what your father needs to see to realize you deserve to be here. If you decide not to work for An Sering, you'll meet an elderly holy man who has given up material wealth for a life of religious contemplation. You can help him find either food or shelter, and may wind up overhearing a plot by bandits to attack the caravan. Can you intervene before your dream trip to India turns traumatic?
I'm rounding my one-and-a-half-star rating of Caravan to two, but by the barest of margins. The problem is, the rich story concept isn't given room to breathe: every time there's a glimmer of action, you run smack into an ending before anything really happens. Even in a book this short, your international journey could be a coming-of-age narrative that brims with excitement and acquired wisdom, but R.A. Montgomery doesn't seem eager to push his own literary limits. Too bad, because what might have been the finest Bantam Skylark Choose Your Own Adventure of all is instead no better than average.
January 11, 2021
I have always enjoyed Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. This short, illustrated (in color!) volume offers a possible nine endings. I used it in a virtual tween program and participates each got to choose the path at a critical juncture to determine the ending. Well-received.
February 1, 2024
Es el primer libro que escogió mi hijo de 6 años en la Biblioteca de la escuela! Una divertida manera de despertar el interés en los niños por la lectura y cómo padres, acompañarlos y reconectar con nuestra imaginación!
March 16, 2018
Not as good as the older ones, but that's probably because it's for a younger audience. It was very tame, and there were no "bad" endings.
September 21, 2021
A good adventure book for the younger set.
August 15, 2011
I think it's great that some of R.A. Montgomery's Choose Your Own Adventure books have been updated and rereleased for younger audiences. This one is only 64 pages with 9 endings. I thought the story was fun and was intrigued by the setting in the mountains of Tibet. However, I am a little concerned about the portrayal of people in a different country. It is difficult to tell if they are being portrayed as primitive or if the setting is intended to be in the past. I'm also not overly excited or bothered by the illustrations
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June 1, 2012An exotic escape! Loved the detail in the art!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews