Customer Reviews

Clever Ali

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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When Ali turns seven he goes to work with his father, who keeps pigeons for the wicked sultan of Cairo, and learns all kinds of rules about their care - which he disobeys. He overfeeds one greedy pigeon who runs a bowl of the Sultan's rare cherries - and is given only three days to replace them or his father will suffer. Kids in grades 2-4 will appreciate Gail De Marcken's lovely ethnic drawings which are perfect pairings for an Arabian story of adventure.

My 7 year old (son) is interested in much more sophisticated stories than he can read on his own, yet he doesn't always have the patience to sit and listen to a book with absolutely no pictures. This story captivated him, as did the pictures, which helped him visualize the story. My older son has read a number of Nancy Farmer books (House of the Scorpion, Sea of Trolls) and I was pleased to find a book suitable for reading to younger children. I enjoyed this story of a boy who gets himself in trouble by not following directions, but is clever enough to get himself out of trouble. There is a dungeon in this story (oubliette) so beware.

Great adventure with a good lesson to be learned. Excellent jumping off point for an understanding of and future study of the Middle Eastern culture. Beautiful illustrations.

I love this book because it just makes me feel that I did a lot of things wrong and I need to work on how I speak to other people and how I listen to other people. Like when I went on the phone without asking and I got in trouble. I love the illustrations because they showed how creative things can be.
(Age 8)