The Thousand Nights and One Night

by David Walser (Adapter), Jan Pieńkowski (Illustrator)

Alternate cover edition for 9780141382883

Welcome to an ancient world of enchantment and adventure where animals talk, genies grant wishes and sorcerers and sultans rub shoulders with men. Based on the original nineteenth-century English translation by Sir Richard Burton, David Walser retells these fantastic tales with a flourish of magic. Jan Pie kowski's exquisite silhouettes on stunning colour bring the stories vivdly to life, with silver ink printing throughout making this a truly sumptuous production of one of the oldest and best-loved story collections.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction, Picture Books, Mythology

160 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2011

About the author

David Walser was born in 1937 in Singapore, where his father was serving in the R.A.F. Trapped in Indo-China by the outbreak of World War II, David Walser and his mother made a perilous escape back to England. He is a writer, translator, artist, and musician, and has collaborated with Jan Pie´nkowski on eleven books. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Anoara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very powerful combination of retelling of classics from the Middle East with the hauntingly beautiful illustrations of Jan Pienkowski. The detailed, silent silhouettes complement the stories exceptionally well.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Such a great story book for children or adults that enjoy a decent fantasy book with great pictures. I bought this for myself to share with the children but it currently sits on my bookshelf!

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

More Pienkowksi beautiful illustrations woven through the classic Persian stories.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book to read to my son, but he was a little young for the level of vocabulary and length of some of the stories... so I read it to myself. Nice retellings and lush illustrations, this is a great introduction to A Thousand and One Nights which is, most of all, I think, about the power of stories and storytelling.

[Asma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most beautiful book I own.

The story was beautifully retold, I felt so nostalgic as it reminded me of my childhood.
The illustrations however are on a whole other level. Extremely aesthetically pleasing. The colors and drawings are so rich. I thoroughly enjoyed this! Definitely going to reread it and suggest it to everyone I know!

[Jennifer Wilkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are stunning and vibrant. For the life of me I could not get into these stories. I know they are ancient and significant but I just didn’t feel anything for the characters or care about the plots. Perhaps they lose a lot in translation.

[Clivemichael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well bound, excellent renditions with evocative illustrations and ribbon book mark

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully done, the retelling and the illustrations.

[Julieann Wielga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my. I asked for this book for Christmas and then we flew to a vacation at a ski resort without snow. So when we were not scrambling up the sides of some very dry Sierra Nevadas just outside of Kirkwood California, I was walking around carrying this most beautiful book exclaiming how beautiful is it is and being haunted by the idea of Sherhazad telling these horrific stories where time after time the rich are the without wits, the poor are the cleaver ones, man is greedy and the men are either hoodwinked by voluptuous woman or saved by brillaint ones. At the end as we know the king spared the live of Shaharazad and her sister, but it I keep lingering with the idea that I did not know that she had born the kind three sons during those 1000 and one nights. That for me changed the nature of those three years and i let myself dwell on that change. For any age a book to see!

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The retellings are perfectly competent but what really makes this version of the classic stand out are Pienkowski's gorgeous illustrations. A blend of his trademark silhouettes and beautifully coloured backgrounds, every page is a delight.

I would have left out the "Tale of the Birds, the Beasts and the Carpenter," a story of the 'son of Adam's' cleverness in outwitting and burning to death a young lion, but otherwise highly recommended.

[Kristina Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are very evocative. Its an interesting mix of fables, fantastical tales and legends designed to give new readers a taste of the thousand and one nights. As with all compilations I like some more than others but that means parts should appeal to everyone.

[German Chaparro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hacky translation, weird selection of stories, but beautifully illustrated.

[Christian Duckworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful retelling of the 1000 and one night stories.