The Great Voyages of Zheng He
Zheng He was a larger-than-life, fifteenth-century Chinese military leader, explorer, and visionary peacemaker. Appointed admiral of the expanding Chinese navy, he made seven important voyages with a vast armada of gargantuan ships, and opened the world to China with a policy of peace to all the rulers and people he met everywhere. The mixed-media illustrations are in Demi’s unique style, with tiny figures against stark, vast backdrops dominated by patches of dazzling reds and golds. The depictions of the huge sails of the magnificent ships burst beyond the page borders. The text is placed in blocks at the edges of the pages, almost as if they are captions for the large-framed illustrations. But the saga of Zheng He’s accomplishments, as well as bits of information about Chinese politics and culture, often prove just as interesting as the pictures. Though this information seems reliable, the lack of source documentation or an author’s note puts some limits on this for classroom use. Grades 3-5, --Randall Enos