Everything I learned about Sindbad the Sailor was from Sunday morning Ray Harryhausen movies. (Yet again this is due to my brother's influence - he who controls the channels truly shapes their younger sibling's pop culture references!) I know all the major stories, that Richard Burton wrote a very popular translation (among many other things) and that Scheherazade really got a raw deal. (Tell a story every night or die? Seriously?!). I also know that Sindbad is just generally a very cool literary character. The reason I'm blogging about this (other than an excuse to embed a Harryhausen clip) is because Tundra books sent me a trio of Sindbad picture books that made my son fall crazy hard for Sindbad and I wanted to share their wonderfulness with the world. Also, times are hard and good Sindbad books are a tonic for what ails us.

Retold and illustrated by Ludmilla Zeman, Sindbad, Sindbad in the Land of the Giants and Sindbad's Secret all tell the stories in the traditional manner. A brief introduction in the first book sets the scene for Scheherazade and then we meet older and wiser Sindbad who relates the crazy tales of his youth. All the shipwrecks and monsters are here and in each book Sindbad gets lucky, shows his wiles, finds treasure and then keeps going back for more crazy adventures. So if you're just looking for faithful adaptions then these books can't be beat but what really sold me on them (and got my son's immediate attention) were the amazing full color full page illustrations that wrap from corner to corner. You can't look away and really, why would you want to?

Essentially, Zeman portrays the stories as tapestries, even down to the borders around each page. The monsters are big and scary, the people expressive, the landscapes stunning. The fact that everyone, including Sindbad, looks like they actually do live in the Middle East is just icing on the cake. Mostly I just wanted to wallow in all the pretty artwork and the fact that Sinbad is as wicked cool as always.

I do still have a soft spot for Ray Harryhausen however. If you grew up on those movies, you would too.

[The Pictorial Arts blog has several more pages from the third Sindbad book up to take a peek at.]