Adventures of Don Quixote

by Argentina Palacios Ziegler (Adaptation), Thea Kliros (Illustrations)

"Once, there was a man who went crazy from too much reading. He only read books about knighthood; that was the problem." So begins this charming retelling of Don Quixote de la Mancha, one of the most entertaining books ever written. Young people will delight in the hilarious adventures of the idealistic would-be knight and his "squire," Sancho Panza, as they set out to right the wrongs of the world. Ms. Palacios, a talented storyteller, captures all the flavor and irony of the original as the two heroes ride forth to conquer evil. Along the way the well-meaning but addled knight-errand mistakes a miserable inn and its keeper for a castle and its lord; imagines an ordinary peasant girl to be the noble lady Dulcinea, perceives windmills as giants to be overcome, and gets enmeshed in other cases of mistaken identity. These, and many more incidents and adventures are retold here in a beguiling, easy-to-read version, enhanced by six new black-and-white illustrations by Thea Kliros. This edition is sure to delight today's youngsters, just as the original has enchanted countless readers since its publication nearly 400 years ago.

Genres: Childrens, Classics, Fiction

66 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 1999

Reviews

[grllopez ~ with freedom and books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course, nothing compares to the chunky unabridged version; but this is a decent intro for young readers to the epic Don Quixote.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story that I read out loud to my 5th graders.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I have not read the original I cannot testify to the accuracy of this abridgment. BUT...we laughed out loud at this hilarious story and I am inspired to read the original.

[Rylie Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this with my 5th grade students. They loved it. I don’t know how I feel about it. That’s all and ready to move on. Lol

[Zach]

Collapsing the grandly episodic Don Quixote into a slender children's novel was never going to be an easy quest -- nor even a possible one. Too much is lost in the compacted storytelling. The subtle ironies that guide the novel's themes are translated into language that's too literal -- and not romantic enough.

I definitely would NOT recommend this as an introduction to Don Quixote. I read it partly out of curiosity -- with a possible eye to use it in the classroom, but I don't think there's much utility to be had.

That being said, there were still some charming moments -- or perhaps my imagination and love for the original novel was doing enough heavy lifting to transcend an otherwise underwhelming attempt at Don Quixote.

Remember, "Everything is possible, Sancho."

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with one of my kids and also for a 5th grade class I am teaching a Language Arts unit on this. There are quite a few lessons to be learned for youngsters within this story - friendship, kindness, facing responsibility, gratitude, humility, accepting who you are, helping others,...and perhaps even dealing with the mentally ill among us. The gist of the story as I see it: What happens when rigid ideology clashes with cold, hard reality.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My students absolutely adored this book. Not sure how they'll feel about it in college when they realize the 980 page original is as disjointed as the children's edition they read in 5th grade. Just a bunch of stories loosely tacked together with a running thread of fart jokes and violence. Sounds like a fifth grade boy's dream, though. Doesn't it? Anyway 3 stars for entertaining my students and setting them up for some fun character studies.

[Josette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not having read the original (or the translation of the original....although I have a copy of it on my bookshelf which makes me suspect that I read at least part of it for a college class, but have no memory of it), it seems like a good introduction to the work. This is an abriged version, which I had my 5th grader read for history. I read it as well, so I could provide help w/ the book report.

[Brianna]

I'm not sure how to rate my experience with this book. I was annoyed by Don Quixote's character and craziness for most of the book. However, after reading a biographical picture book about the author of the original work, it helped me better understand why the character was imagined. So I ended the book enjoying it much more.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because I will be reading it with my students next month. I have never read Don Quixote but am familiar with the story from seeing Man of LaMancha. It’s been a long time since then, though, so I forgot the comical nature of the story. I will be interested to see if my 5th graders enjoy it.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

great kids version simplified

Simplified version of the classic great for a read aloud!

The story was very simplified but kids got the main ideas and were able to learn the main ideas for this book.

[Hope Hillier · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second year I have read this with my fifth grade class as part of our curriculum. The students really like all of Don Quixote’s crazy adventures. I enjoy when students enjoy a book, and they enjoyed this one!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because I have to teach it, but I ended up loving it! This is the kid version- adapted for younger readers (mine are 5th graders). I believe the actual Don Quixote book is incredibly long. I love the good-intentioned and hopelessly romantic DQ and his faithful sidekick, Sancho Panza.

[Noah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I sort of liked the book. It was about a knight who "saved the world" but annoyed everybody.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy read that gave me a better understanding of the story of Don Quixote. I enjoyed reading this very much!

[Debbie Channell]

Fine for what it is- a children’s introduction to Don Quixote.

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for work. Great story!

[Abigail Vodila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don Quixote is a bit to gullible which makes you know what's going to happen next

[laur · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this with my 5th graders hell yeah they loved it

[Boni Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, my students really liked it!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to my third grader in our homeschool.

[Colleen Sulkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as part of required curriculum. The kids liked it, and it kept their attention!

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventures of Don Quixoteby Argentina Palacios is a short adaptation designed for children. It is well done and includes most of the adventures of Don Quixote and Sancho Pancha in an easy to understand format for elementary schoolers. It’s a great introduction that will hopefully make kids want to read the real thing when they are a little older.

[Avalon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book teaches us that we need to keep our imagination and dreams in control. Don Quixote began seeing things, such as windmills, enchanted. it was not my favorite book.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing the ballet twice I was intrigued to know the original story. I love how sweet and imaginative it is, it's a nice easy read and I'd happily read more.

[Sadie Levesque · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really know when I started or finished this book but reading it with Mrs. Broby was awesome!!

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great kid-friendly version to introduce children to the story-line. My boys really enjoyed it.

[Lyndsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taught special education students; huge hit!

[Seandra Humbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good adaptation for 5th graders.

[Jennifer Blanco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adaption is very kid friendly. My 5th graders enjoyed it tremendously. although I wish the impactful quotes from the original were kept in this version.