Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories

by Philip Smith (Adapted By)

Six exotic adventures: "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," "The Enchanted Horse," "The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor," 2 more.

Genres: Classics, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Mythology

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 4, 1993

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read Arabian Nights in full, but I have wanted to for some time, and now that desire to read the entire collection of stories is heightened after reading this short collection of six of the Arabian Nights tales with my son. The stories included in this work are: "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor," all stories popularized in Western pop culture, and three lesser known tales, "Abou Hassan" (my son's favorite, -- he found the cases of mistaken identity hilarious -- and one that I also enjoyed), "Camaralzaman and Badoura" and "The Enchanted Horse." With the more familiar stories, I realized that many of them have been changed time and again as they have been appropriated by the culture industry (not unlike the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen for that matter). I found that upon reading these tales that I was not as familiar with them as I thought (the story of Ali Baba was much more violent than I had remembered it and parts of the voyages of Sinbad resembled those of Odysseus in Homer's Odyssey a bit more than I had recalled). The stories are filled with magic, adventure and humor that make them a delight for children to read as well as adults. I look forward to reading all of the folk tales in due time.

[Julesmarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review of this is colored by the fact that my school chose this as one of my literature books to read and discuss with my 3rd grade class this year. The stories in themselves were interesting; some even fascinating. To see the different elements that another culture includes in their fairy tales was a lot of fun.

These stories are VIOLENT though! In the Ali Baba story itself, a man gets quartered and the pieces hung around the door to the cave to discourage other potential thieves. His brother takes the pieces down and takes them to a cobbler to sew them together so he can be buried. Later, when the thieves break into a house and are hiding in baskets to wait until night, a young woman pours boiling oil into each of the baskets to kill them. The grand finale is the same young woman disemboweling the leader of the thieves at dinner. Another story has Sindbad bashing in an old man's skull with a rock.

Yes, and I had to read these with 8 and 9 year olds.

If it weren't for that, I might have enjoyed these stories more.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly as advertised: Some pretty mild retellings of favorites from the Arabian Nights, which I cannot say without singing in my head "Arabiaaaaaaaaan Niiiiiiiiiiights and Arabiaaaaaaaaaan Daaaaaaaays" from the Disney movie. I feel bad for people who weren't '90s kids.

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a standard collection of well-into-the-public-domain stories, ostensibly from The Arabian Nights, though I could have sworn I saw "Sindbad the Sailor" in a different collection... which I can't find since I either tagged it wrong or read it before starting an account here.

Anyway, six stories, at least two of which most people are familiar with, the others less so:

1. Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp
Disney REALLY cleaned this up, including what I've always thought was a pretty peculiar plot hole: The fake uncle gives Aladdin a ring to enter the cave with the lamp, but both the lamp AND the ring have wish-granting genies (and don't seem to be limited to three wishes). So why exactly does the fake uncle need the lamp if he already had the ring? And doesn't bother getting the ring back after getting the lamp??

Though in this version (I may have heard/read others), Aladdin's mother foolishly tries to speak with the Sultan in her ordinary poor-people clothes, when Aladdin clearly could have wished both of them to have the finest duds, etc. and generally conducted the whole affair better than they did.

Well, nobody said Aladdin was actually smart or anything.

I do wonder about the part about Aladdin gathering up his "gown" when he's illustrated wearing the "normal" Arabian outfit most people would think of him wearing. (Even if it's not remotely accurate.) Probably another disconnect between author and artist, though in this case it would be translator and artist.

2. Abou Hassan, or, The Sleeper Awakened
Sultan decides to prank a Nice Guy he meets, DRUGGING HIM with a sleeping powder and having his staff pretend that Abou Hassan is the real sultan for a day. Abou Hassan goes with it but then is not quite able to reconcile reality when he is returned to his regular life the next day, getting thrown into the madhouse when he insists he is the Sultan. The disguised Sultan again pranks Abou Hassan to make up for the trouble he caused and has him once again wake up as the Sultan, only this time he fesses up and tells him about the prank. At least it was a "nice" prank, but boo on gaslighting!

3. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
I feel like I shouldn't have to explain this one, since EVERYBODY knows "Open, Sesame!" It's here, if you haven't heard it, though.

I also feel like it's mostly popular because, hey, free money! Even if it's stolen money, it was stolen by OTHER thieves, so it's perfectly justified stealing it BACK from them!

[/sarcasm]

4. The Enchanted Horse
Guy shows off a neato magic horse... robot... to the King, showing off how it can immediately transport its rider to wherever you can think of. King loves it and asks Guy what price for it, to which Guy demands the princess's hand in marriage. King's son Prince says no, that's too expensive, please talk Guy down, but in the meantime, Prince tries out the horse without getting Guy's instructions on how to use it. Prince is immediately whisked away to who knows where, and in the meantime, the king suddenly smells a rat and—in a panic—orders Guy to be imprisoned until Prince returns.

Prince, meanwhile, has a lovely adventure and meets a lovely Princess of his own and decides to marry her, then takes her home to meet the family. In his relief, King frees Guy, but Guy is rightfully pissed off and, in revenge, takes the new princess and skedaddles on the horse to no one knows where. Princess is so upset, though, that she screams so wildly that when Guy lands, the people there apprehend him and kill him. Some other things happen, and the Prince and Princess end up back together, but the important part is Guy got imprisoned and killed for trying to sell his wares. Sure, he may have asked a lot for the horse, but normally that's how negotiations go: start high and work toward a more reasonable price.

Moral: Seller beware?

5. Camaralzaman and Badoura
I can't take this one seriously, with names like those. Another "attractive royals fall in love at first sight and hook up" story. About the most interesting thing is the princess poses as a prince for a while for reasons, marrying another (very openminded, secret-keeping) princess in the process.

6. The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor
I mentioned having read this before, but I still don't really remember it all because it's ALL telling, not showing, so I kind of skim over the fact of his storytelling, to where he's basically totally rich and is just, "Rich Guy overhears Poor Guy complain about why Rich Guy has it so good and Poor Guy doesn't, so Rich Guy brings Poor Guy in and tells him his adventures but also gives him money every day to keep him coming back." I guess it's more a story about generosity after going through some ADVENTURES and being the only survivor and somehow also getting fabulous wealth each time in the process.

Because wealth is always just LYING AROUND like the valley lined with (polished!) diamonds, I guess! You just have to know where to look!

I don't know. I get that these are "classic" stories (at least the two), but I don't exactly *love* them or anything. Okay read for getting in those goals, though:

[Ruthie Planamenta · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read selections from this book with my third graders each year, and I finally got around to reading the other stories on my own today! This book does a nice job of making foreign fairy tales accesible for an English-speaking audience. The students are always shocked by the level of violence, but that’s what fairy tales are!! We have rich conversations about what the authors of these stories are trying to teach us and whether or not we agree. I’m already looking forward to reading it again next year!

[Leslie Carnahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean... These are easy to read versions of these stories. So they are not great. But also, the lessons in the stories are also not great. Aladdin didn't do shit yet got rewarded? Ehhh. No thanks.

[Jock Zollinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the fairy tale of Aladdin like most have heard in a new way. This book was different from the Disney movie, so that made it more interesting and suspenseful. I would recommend this book to people who like fairy tales and magical beings in books. I would rate this book a four because this book told other stories about things happening in the same place as Aladdin, I knew the setting. Also Why I would rate this a four is this book used some magic in the stories.

[Rosa Jamali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best of Arabian Nights! It's amazing!
I wonder how a horse can change the setting , but it does here! The Seven Voyages of Sindbad the Sailor is one of those stories could be modeled for a post-modern novel! In Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, the plot is so complexive and twisted which could be studied more! Full of fantasy and dreams ! It's truly and authentically pure fiction!

[Catherine Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ummm.....goood to read if your bored

[Leichty Library]

Copies: 1

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If these are the stories parents tell their children in Arabia, I'd never be able to sleep at night!

[Lee Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The version on my shelf for years was very poorly translated: quite stilted & trite. At least I've now read the tales & see the adaptations used in the Disney cartoons.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of elementary level versions of the more well known Arabian Nights stories. Enjoyable.

[Bryan Spahr]

read for school in 5th grade