Ali, Child of the Desert [Library Binding]

Jonathan London (Author), Ted Lewin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up

Journeying with his father to the market town at the edge of the Sahara, young Ali is separated from the camel herd by a sudden sand storm and is rescued and sheltered by a mysterious desert man.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3. Ali is proud to accompany his father on the yearly trek to market across the Sahara by camel, proving that he is ready to be a man. When a sudden sandstorm separates them, the boy finds shelter and solace with Abdul, an old Berber goatherd, and his grandson. That night, Abdul entertains and awes Ali with tales of his life as a young warrior. In the morning, Ali chooses to wait in the desert in the hope that his father will find him, rather than accompany the goatherd to the summer pasture. The musket shots Ali fires all day to draw attention to his position alert his father, and the two are joyously reunited and enter the market town together. The book's multiple themes of resourcefulness, bravery, and finding friendship with those different from oneself are briskly explored, and neatly and satisfyingly resolved. Lewin's detailed watercolors capture the dazzling, ever-changing colors of wide swaths of the Moroccan landscape, placing readers in each scene with startling immediacy. A visual feast.?Ellen Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Scientific American

The survival adventure tale gets a desert setting in this picture book about a boy in the Sahara....Author and artist have traveled in the area, and they tell the story of sizzling sun and lonely darkness in realistic detail. Lewin's watercolor paintings are rich with story. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 28, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688125611
• ISBN-13: 978-0688125615
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,198,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent cross cultural experience for parent and child, February 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ali, Child of the Desert (Hardcover)

This delightful book is an excellent cross cultural experience for both parent and child. The book not only allows its readers to taste the Islamic Berber culture of Morocco, but also teaches valuable lessons in family values, friendship, self reliance, and faith in God and nature....

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book for teaching about a desert culture, May 26, 2010

By 

DJ "teacher/mama" (Iowa City, IA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ali, Child of the Desert (Hardcover)

I read this book to my son tonight. We both exclaimed over the beautiful pictures that really brought the desert to life. It was easy to imagine ourselves as this boy, separated from his father in a sandstorm. This is the type of book to read to children to really help them understand what it might be like to live a desert life. In many ways, that life would be very different, but in the most important ways, his life is very much like ours.