Children's Book Review: Tales from the Arabian Nights By Donna Jo Napoli

TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Stories of Adventure, Magic, Love, and Betrayal

By: Donna Jo Napoli

Illustrated By: Christina Balit

Published: October 25, 2016

Publisher: National Geographic

Fiction/Folk Tales

Does your child love stories full of adventure? Does your daughter dream of being a princess or living in a royal kingdom? This book is full of stories to delight all the imaginations of your children and fill their dreams with visions of genies, kings, and families full of wild tales.

Scheherazade comes up with a way to tell stories to her husband in the hopes of being granted another day of life. Her adventurous stories engage and excite the reader or listener and leave them guessing the conclusion to many of the fables along with maybe learning a few life lessons along the way.

This is quite a large and heavy book, but perfect for night-time storytelling. You can read a story in just a few minutes before bed and your child can savor the tale while drifting off to sleep.

The pages are full of gorgeous illustrations that depict a culture much different from one here in the United States. The clothing is elaborate as is the architecture and the illustrations show the beautiful details on the pages.

One tale that I remembered reading as a child was "The Tale of Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves" . It's full of greed and jealousy. But it also reminds us of the treasure we have and then holding onto it. Each of the stories also has various sidebars that give information related to the culture and current traditions. Some of these stories are a bit gory or have parts you wouldn't want to read to young children. But, older elementary children who love adventure will appreciate the folklore and history tied to these stories.

With 24 stories, this book can last many nights by reading just a story at a time. The back of the book offers a map of the Middle East and a bibliography for those who want to learn more about a particular legend or folk tale.

This would make a wonderful gift for the adventurous child and one that could be passed on for generations.

Donna Jo Napoli - source

Donna Jo Napoli is a linguist and a writer of children's fiction. She is married to a professor of Health Law. Donna Jo has five children and five grandchildren. She dreams of moving to the woods and becoming a naturalist. She loves to garden and bake bread. For more on Napoli, visit her website, HERE. To see all of Napoli's books, click HERE.

Christina Balit is the illustrator of numerous books. See them HERE.

To purchase a copy of TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, click the photo below:

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