The King and the Three Thieves

Snazzy illustrations energize this Middle Eastern folktale in which a king disguises himself to go among his unsuspecting subjects. King Abbas, a monarch known for his impressive black mustache and accustomed to dining solo, decides to share his abundant food with the needy. Dressed as a pauper, he offers a meal to three unusual men. The first ""can whistle a tune that will put anyone to sleep,"" the second ""can see through walls"" and the third can sneeze hard enough to ""blow a door right off its hinges."" When the concealed king says that his mustache is magical too, the three suggest combining forces and robbing the royal palace. This development sorely tests the king's generosity. Balouch, who retold Celtic, Caribbean and Native American folktales in Listen to the Storyteller, writes according to formula. The events happen ""long ago in the faraway land of Persia"" and conclude on a positive note: ""From that day on the king never ate dinner alone."" Yet the compositions break tradition. The lively images, based on Iranian pottery designs, are created with illustration software and look like two-dimensional cut-paper collage. Tumbling shapes and a confetti of dots fill the flattened space, and elephants, camels and onion domes set the desert scene. Balouch engages the eye with sparkling patterns and crisp, solid colors, and she gives her stylized characters the dramatic facial expressions of theatrical masks. Ages 3-8. (Oct.)