THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR

Here Riordan recasts the Sinbad chapter in his Tales from the Arabian Nights (1983) for a younger audience, and Fowles adds comic notes with small, jewel-toned watercolor illustrations done in an appealingly childlike style. The language may not be as ornate or atmospheric as is customary in older versions, but even in the third-person, the melodrama remains: “One moment Sinbad’s eyes were shining with joy. The next ... he froze in terror. Coiled about the diamonds were hundreds of squirming snakes big enough to swallow a caravan of camels.” Closing with a historical note and a thumbnail version of the covering story of Shahrazad, this iteration of the itchy-footed merchant’s misadventures captures the requisite sense of wonder, but John Yeoman’s Seven Voyages of Sinbad, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1996), is still at least a match for child appeal. (glossary) (Picture book/folklore. 9-11)