Bartlett and the Ice Voyage

by Odo Hirsch

Book Overview

The Queen is a very busy woman who rules over seven kingdoms, some of which she has never even seen. Each kingdom is filled with its own exotic delights, and her loyal subjects constantly send her... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582349185
• ISBN13: 9781582349183
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 2.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 9

Customer Reviews

Awesome adventure story for kids

This is a marvelous adventure story for children. A spoiled Queen demands the impossible -- she wants to taste a melidrop, an amazing fruit that grows far away. No one can bring her one, because the fruit spoils after only a day. Gallant nobles have tried and failed to bring her one, and with each failure, the Queen's irritation grows. Finally, she commands the services of Bartlett the explorer, who agrees to try. He gives her an honest assessmant -- this project probably will not succeed, and he will need some time. (He will also need inventiveness, perseverance, and desperation!) He tells her it may take 7 months! The queen agrees, and Bartlett leaves. He finds the fruit, but can he get it to the Queen? This is a wonderful story to draw up self-confidence and forthrightness in your child, particularly your son. There is no "bad guy" per se, apart from a few annoying people at court. Time is the antagonist. Time, and distance, and the warmth of the sun. I'm a parent and a grown-up, and I enjoyed the story. I wish more fiction for boys could be written this way.

Bartlett's Ice Voyage Adventure

In the novel Bartlett and the Ice Voyage, a very powerful queen is not satisfied with the taste of the fruit she is provided with, and wants to taste a melidrop, a rare and delicious fruit that spoils the day it is picked. The queen asks one of her most trusted advisors what she should do. The advisor recommends a certain explorer named Bartlett to retrieve a melidrop from across the ocean. The queen finds it hard to believe that someone could bring it on a nine-week voyage across the sea without spoiling. Bartlett and his partner, Jacques le Grand, ponder how they could get a melidrop back to the queen without spoiling. They go on a long trip across the sea to the country where melidrops grow most abundantly. They ask the owners of a melidrop field what they should do. One of them, a mere boy, offers to help them with this seemingly impossible task. His family offers to give them shelter, food, and water for a night while they recuperate. Then, while Bartlett is thinking about how cold the water is, his train of thought triggers an idea. He goes to the harbor and looks for a captain who is willing to take his ship into the frigid waters of the arctic sea. They find one captain who agrees to take them up to the Arctic Ocean. They want to find an iceberg large enough to preserve a melidrop for nine weeks on the voyage back to the queen's palace. After searching in vain for an iceberg the right size, they decide to go back. Along the journey back however, they find a stray iceberg just the right size. They go back to the melidrop farmers and ask for the tastiest melidrop in the orchard. It is given to them, and the challenge now is to get to the queen within the deadline time. They make it and the queen is so grateful that she funds an exploration of the Margoulis Caverns; the largest chain of unexplored caves in the world. I liked this story because it had funny characters and twists and turns that really left you thinking. This imaginative tale will be cherished for a long, long time. It is a true masterpiece, and should be read by anyone and everyone who enjoys quirky tales with unusual but hilarious characters

Charming!

What a lovely book! I would recommend this to those who have enjoyed the Gail Carson Levine Princess Tales books, as well as anyone who like a story with a little adventure, a little humor, and a good ending. The author's descriptions of the luscious melidrop made me long for them to be real!