Customer Reviews

Rimonah of the Flashing Sword: A North African Tale

5 star:		(3)
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This story starts out in the usual way: queen has baby girl, queen dies, wicked stepmother orders girl killed. Of course, the girl doesn't die, but she doesn't take up cleaning house for the Dwarven Miners Union, either. She proves herself adaptable, courageous, resourceful . . . some of the characteristics I love in my daughter. Another nifty thing is the surprise turn in the plot whenever I thought I could predict the next scene. After reading myriad fairy tales, both the surprises and the strong heroine (but strong men, too!) were quite refreshing. And I even liked her father the king. . . .

Eric Kimmel writes well consistently; this is one of his best.

Rimonah of the flashing sword is both beautifully written and illustrated. The heroine, following the lead of many tales written before those of the Grimm brothers, is strong and dynamic. Both my son and my daughter love this story, and I enjoy reading it over and over again. The illustrations are rich and colorful and the language is not dumbed down as in so many other books for children of this age. Under Kimmel's eloquent pen, "And they lived happily ever after" becomes " And so, all that was sorrowful ended in joy and all that was wrong was made right again. So may it be forever." This book is a true gem.

"Rimonah was born with skin as dark as a pomegranate's peel and a voice as sweet as a pomegrante's juice..." begins Eric A. Kimmel's adaptation of this rich North African tale. Kimmel has brought readers a tale where beauty is defined with the loveliness of darkness, and the heroine fights for her freedom from the oppression of the evil queen. Its a great book for boys and girls - adventure for all. I only wish that illustrator Omar Rayyan had taken the opportunity to provide us with a darker skinned heroine.