Before there were airplanes and high speed travel, Phileas Fogg, an English gentleman, bets 20,000 pounds that he can travel around the world in only 80 days. En route he meets a beautiful Indian Princess, gets mistaken for a notorious criminal and is pursued by a detective with a warrant for his arrest. Follow his fantastic adventures through four continents in his daring race against time. It's a fast-paced, action-packed, high-spirited journey filled with romance, danger and adventure.

This selection is a good choice for the Great Illustrated Classics series, as it recounts an engaging story in a form appropriate for pre-teen readers. The excellent illustrations enhance the tale, as does a two-page map that illustrates the course of Phileas Fogg's journey. I found it amusing that he arrived a day earlier than he'd calculated, having passed over the International Date Line. No doubt this feature has amused and perplexed countless other readers, as it's a bit hard to grasp. This book is a good introduction to a work that is said to be the most popular of Jules Verne's novels.

PS. The adapter of this work made a mistake on p. 180, as sharp eyes will notice. It's a game of cards, where Phileas Fogg plays a spade, and a rude bystander (Col. Proctor) insists that he should play a diamond instead. In the small argument that follows, the adapter has Phileas assert that Proctor wanted him to play a "spade". The line should read that Proctor wanted him "not to play a spade." The conflict leads the two men to fight a duel with pistols, which is halted by the attack of a band of Sioux Indians. ( )

Phileas Fogg, un verdadero "gentleman", miembro del Reform Club, arriesga toda su fortuna en una apuesta. Se compromete a dar la vuelta al mundo en ochenta días, basándose en un cálculo hecho por el periódico "Morning Chronicle". A través de este fascinante viaje por el globo, Julio Verne nos presenta el verdadero tema central de la obra, que no es la mera descripción geográfica, sino el dominio del tiempo, alcanzado por el hombre gracias al desarrollo tecnológico y de los medios de comunicación. ( )

Rebekah said, "I felt like I was actually in the movie and in the book. A lot of times I felt like I was actually traveling around the world. I loved it!" - age 8.5

I liked the story but I was not thrilled about the Illustrated Classics. It was too simple and too basic for me. I enjoyed the action but I felt like a lot was left out to ensure this was set up for juvenile literature and I really think that it could have kept some of the more exciting parts fluffed out rather than condensing it down to the bare bones. All in all, I liked the story and the overall plot. Again, a good many parts were too simple and to me seemed to run very quickly. I would recommend this AS a juvenile literature, but if you are reading this to kind of get an idea about what the story is about, what I was doing, then you are better off just reading the real book and not wasting your time with this. ( )