Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8779 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
This is a completely original version of the "Arabian Nights Stories" by award-winning author Geraldine McCaughrean. In order to delay her inevitable execution, Queen Shaharazad tells her murdering husband, King Shahryar, a wonderfully exciting story every night. The King is used to a new wife every day, only to put her to death the following day, but finds himself so intrigued in the magical stories Shaharazad tells, he can't bring himself to kill her. Night after night she tells her wonderful stories until the King starts to realize that he won't be able to live without them...

Customer Reviews

Superb storytelling
I haven't enjoyed a book as much as this in ages - equally suitable for children and adults alike. The author makes superb use of language and metaphor to give an authenic Arabian feel whilst still making the stories read naturally. The frame story of Shahrazad is well handled and evolved and most of the short interspersed poems are pretty good also. I haven't read any other versions of the tales, but they would have to go some to beat this - I'm off to check out some of McCaughrean's other titles

This book is the most marvelous book i have ever read!
This book is a wonderful book ,it talks about a beautiful daughter of an old wazeer who worked for a cruel king called Shahrayar ,Shahrayar use to kill every girl he merried the next day ,but Shahrazad was too smart for him ,she read him a story every night for one thousand night and managed to survive for that long.....until..
This book is a very interesting book which i have injoyed reading and i think that you should read this book if like to read adventure stories and if you want to find out what happens at the end!

Great version for older kids - and adults, too
This is one of the better versions of these stories in my opinion, and is particularly suitable for older children who are ready to move beyond simple children's stories. The stories are a bit "straighten up" for contemporay audiences, but they retain the language and the fanatastic elements that people turn to these Tales to enjoy. The stories also retain some of the violent and cruel plots twists of the original, another reason you may not want to use these as bedtime stories for little children.

All the major stories and most of the minor ones are included, and the "frame story" of the Shah and his clever wife is carried throughout the book very nicely. Each story told by Shahrezade serves a secondary purpose of advancing the tale of the royal couple's evolving relationship, and so the ending is more truly satisfying than in almost any other version of the Arabian Nights.

The illustrations are good as well, and add to the storyland feeling of the tales. (The only quibble I have hear is with the white European look of most of the characters in the drawings.)