Sinbad Goes to Sea by Ian Whybrow (illustrated by Nick Schon, as credited on the cover) is a Turquoise band reader in Cambridge Reading Adventures for Class 3 at Lahore Grammar School (LGS). The cover shows Sinbad in a white turban and a blue waistcoat, shading his eyes as he looks out to sea from the deck of a wooden ship.
Sinbad the Sailor is one of the best-loved characters in the tales of the Arabian Nights, and many children in Pakistan will have heard his name at home. In the 2027-28 session, this retelling lets Class 3 readers meet him for themselves.
What happens in the book
According to the teaching notes, this story is a simple retelling of the first of the Seven Voyages of Sinbad. In this story we learn why Sinbad went to sea and follow his adventures over a series of events. The adventures continue with ‘Sinbad and the Roc’ in the Purple band of the series. The book opens with ‘Once upon a time’ on page 2, which tells the reader it is a traditional tale. Sinbad, the notes say, was brave and clever, liked helping people and was poor, so he went ‘to seek his fortune’.
The sailors’ ship is heading for the Land of Ice and Snow, and children may ask why a cow is being hoisted onto the ship in the picture, which leads to a discussion of provisioning a ship for a long voyage. Sinbad and the sailors land on what turns out to be a whale. The language includes simple connectives (‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’), literary phrasing for effect (‘The sailors were happy, but Sinbad was not!’ on page 6), regular past-tense verbs, and compound words built from known parts (‘somewhere’, ‘something’).
What your child learns from it
The publisher’s teaching notes list these learning outcomes. A child who reads this book can:
- read more complex multi-syllabic words, recognising known chunks and using phonic skills;
- sustain reading through longer sentence structures of more than one clause;
- monitor how their reading is sounding, checking that they understand what is read and self-correcting where necessary.
How to read it together at home
The guided reading lesson printed in the book gives a simple routine you can follow:
- Give each child a book, read the title and blurb, and ask them to predict the type of story this will be, giving reasons.
- Turn to page 2 and point out ‘Once upon a time’, which tells us this is a traditional tale.
- Say: this is a story about a man called Sinbad. He sails to sea and has some great adventures. Let’s read about them.
- Ask your child to read page 2 quietly and tell you what they found out about Sinbad; discuss the phrase ‘to seek his fortune’.
- On page 3, discuss why the sailors were going to the Land of Ice and Snow and what kind of adventure Sinbad might have there.
Fun learning links beyond the book
For science, Sinbad and the sailors land on a whale. Find out about real whales in non-fiction books and on the internet. For geography, the boat is going to the Land of Ice and Snow: what would that land be like, and who would live there? Children can invent the unknown land, using resource texts to think about what the landscape would look like.
About the Turquoise band
Turquoise is a descriptive band: expect literary phrases, longer paragraphs and words that a child has to work out from spelling patterns.
Who, when, where and why
Whom: Class 3 children (about eight years old). When: during the 2027-28 session. Where: at school and at home. Why: to meet a famous traditional hero and to practise reading longer, more literary sentences. Book lists at LGS are almost the same from campus to campus, with a few campuses following their own for some subjects, so message us your campus name first and we will confirm this exact book with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is it the whole Sinbad story?
No. It retells only the first of Sinbad’s seven voyages.
What comes next?
The notes mention ‘Sinbad and the Roc’ in the Purple band.
What band is it?
Turquoise band.
We deliver Sinbad Goes to Sea to every city in Pakistan with Cash on Delivery, and you are welcome to collect it from our Lahore shop. If your school sent a book list, send it to us on WhatsApp and we will put the whole set together.
