Written by Philip Pullman. Illustrated by Sophy Williams. First edition, 2005. Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.
In Pullman's retelling of the story of Aladdin, he returns to China, where it all began.
"Once upon a time in China, there lived a boy called Aladdin. He was the son of a tailor called Mustafa, and he made his poor father's life a misery. He ran about the marketplace all day long with a lot of other rogues and scoundrels, getting into trouble, making mischief, and laughing at everyone who tried to make him behave. He wouldn't take up any trade, he wouldn't get a job, and in the end it was too much for Mustafa, who went into a decline and died of worry."
Aladdin's mother is left to continue spinning cotton to earn their meager living. Meanwhile, a sorcerer who we only know as the Moor has been watching and waiting for his moment to snatch Aladdin away in fulfillment of a vision that will bring him vast wealth and power. When Mustafa dies, the Moor, seizing the moment, introduces himself to Aladdin and his mother as his father's brother. Uncle! She has her doubts, but Aladdin is seduced by the Moor's claim to family ties and great wealth. He promises to make Aladdin a wealthy merchant and lures him into descending into an underground passage that leads to a magical garden and bringing back a lantern that will transform their lives. Aladdin fetches the lantern but at the entrance to the passageway he balks, now suspicious the Moor is up to no good. The sorcerer flies into a rage and closes the passageway at both ends and leaves Aladdin to die. After three days alone, in the dark, Aladdin is ready to die, then he inadvertently rubs the lamp, which calls forth the jinnie, a slave to whoever owns the lantern. "But so much for them..."
Phillip Pullman (1946 - ) is a British author best known for the trilogy His Dark Materials. He began writing children's books in the 1970s, and published his first novel, The Haunted Storm, in 1972. He gained international acclaim with the publication of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US) in 1995, the first book of His Dark Materials. The trilogy explores themes of religion, morality, and parallel worlds, and features a young heroine named Lyra Belacqua and her animal companion, Pantalaimon. The books have won several awards, including the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Book of the Year, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Pullman also wrote The Ruby in the Smoke, The Book of Dust, and other acclaimed books.
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Condition: Near Fine/Near Fine. The book is in near-near condition and the dust jacket shows only minor shelf wear.
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