Marco Polo: His Notebook

by Susan L. Roth

Marco Polo's travels are recorded in a diary and scrapbook such as the great explorer might have kept.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 4, 1991

About the author

Susan L. Roth creates unique mixed-media collage illustrations that have appeared in numerous award-winning children’s books, many of which she also wrote. Her book, Listen to the Wind, spent a year on the New York Times best seller list. The Mangrove Tree, which was released in 2011 and addressed Dr. Gordon Sato's mangrove tree-planting project, was the winner of Jane Addams Children's Book Award. Roth lives in New York.

Reviews

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely different from the other books by Susan L. Roth that I've read, but I still enjoyed it. I've never read The Travels of Marco Polo, and this seemed to be a decent adaptation for a younger audience. I was a little bummed not to see Susan L. Roth's usual kind of illustrations, but the ones present were more period accurate.

[Robin Berman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit more details and a good clear map showing where he traveled would have helped. Also under each illustration there should have been information about where it was from, etc. Great intro to Marco Polo.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before yesterday I knew next to nothing about Marco Polo other than he was a famous explorer and there is a fun pool-time activity named after him. Since then I have read two picture books (including this one) and watched a brief Mystery Files about him on Netflix. I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book as much without the other material on Marco Polo, but used all together it was a perfect collection for our studies of Ancient China. Since I do not believe these were exact entries from his travels I chose to categorize this as "historical fiction." That being said it was a very fun quick read with a lovely layout and illustrations.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

This journal written from Marco Polo’s perspective tells of his trip to and time spend in China.

Boring. Feels long for 32 pages. Too many exclamation points and the whole "dear diary" thing is beneath the topic.