Friday, March 27, 2009

Graphic Classics: Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, Illustrated by Penko Gelev- Modern Fantasy or Science Fiction and a Graphic Novel


This book, originally by Jules Verne and retold by Fiona Macdonald, was an example of science fiction, and it was also a graphic novel. A Professor named Professor Otto Lidenbrock finds a hand-written book from Iceland. Inside this book, a piece of parchment falls out that is written in a strange code. The Professor’s nephew, Axel, eventually cracks the code and reads that to reach the center of the Earth, one must descend into the crater of Sneffels. The Professor wants to go explore the center of the Earth, and he makes Axel go with him. Axel is scared and sad to go because he has to leave the girl he loves, Grauben. However, he goes with the Professor. They first travel to Denmark and then to Iceland. A guide named Hans the Hunter goes with them on their journey to help them out. They end up going into the volcano and having many adventures. They almost die of thirst, find rushing water, get separated from one another, travel in darkness, find a strange island with giant mushrooms and dinosaur bones, see strange prehistoric animals that they believed to be extinct, see a geyser, get shipwrecked in a storm, see a prehistoric man, survive a volcanic explosion, and have many more adventures. They eventually end up in Sicily, which is not where they originally planned on going. Their compass had gotten messed up by lightning during their adventures. Finally, Axel and Grauben are reunited and get married. The Professor tells everyone about their crazy adventures, and everyone is happy. This book is written in the style of a graphic novel, so there are lots of comic-book style pictures, captions, and speech bubbles. This made the book flow quickly, and the crazy adventures could truly be “pictured” by looking at the wonderful pictures!
This book would be great to have in a third to fifth grade class. Many children, often boys, love adventure books, and this book is certainly full of adventure and action. This book could also be great for struggling readers since it is written as a graphic novel. There are not long sentences and paragraphs, and a struggling reader or English Language Learner could easily read this book by looking at the pictures. Besides being exciting, this book also has lots of information. Some of the events in the book are impossible, but this is cleared up at the end. There is a “fact and fiction” section that explains which parts of the book could and could not really happen. This book would be great for any students who love science fiction, action, or graphic novels! Perhaps students could create their own graphic novels after reading this. The excitement of the book could also spark creativity, and students could write a science fiction story of their own!

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