Books with author Charles P. Graves

A WORLD EXPLORER Marco Polo BY CHARLES P. GRAVES ILLUSTRATED BY RAY KEANE Marco Polo was seventeen when he left Venice for China. "Young man," Marco's father told him, "keep your eyes open. Try to remember every- thing you see. Kublai Khan will want to hear all about our trip." There was much to see—castles, col- orful markets, huge mountains and vast deserts. There was danger, too, from tigers, sickness, phantoms and even bandits! It took over three years for Marco, his father and his uncle to reach the Khan's golden palace. Marco had followed his father's ad- vice. He had made careful notes of the things he'd seen, and he'd learned to tell a good story. The Khan needed a brave man to explore his empire ; he hired Marco at once. Marco traveled widely. He saw so many millions of exotic things that later he was nicknamed "Marco Mil- lions." At forty, he returned home with a fortune in jewels, settled down, and wrote a book about his travels. His book intrigued people for years. It became a guidebook for later explorers like Columbus, who were lured onward in their search for new lands by Marco's tales of the splendors of the East.