Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp

This is a fast-paced, polished retelling of the well-known story about the genie and the magic lamp. When Aladdin is trapped in a cave by a wicked magician, the genie's first service is to rescue the boy from death. Many years later the genie helps Aladdin win the princess's hand in marriage by obediently producing 80 servants to impress her father, the Sultan. The dastardly sorcerer continues his machinations to foil Aladdin and gain control of the lamp. But Aladdin outwits the villain, who falls upon his own knife and is killed. The atmospheric watercolors present a truly ominous magician, a suitably frail Aladdin and an intense aura of mystery surrounding all. From the opening Middle Eastern cityscape to an impressive Mongol-like genie transporting the palace by moonlight, young readers will once again thrill to this tale of innocence rewarded. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)