Cute. An nice little book of Palestinian stories. Cute size;cute illustrations. ( )

The first volume in a new series of children's folklore collections being put out by the British publisher Frances Lincoln, Ghaddar the Ghoul contains nine stories taken from the Palestinian tradition. Retold by Sonia Nimr, a history professor at Birzeit University, who is also involved in storytelling for children, these tales reference many classic folktale conventions of the Middle East, from the presence and involvement of djinn in human affairs, to the all-important role of storytelling itself.

Included are some epic-quest type tales, among them the titular Ghaddar the Ghoul, in which a young man named Ahmad journeys to the Valley of the Ghouls in order to confront the fearsome Ghaddar; or Dancing Jasmine, Singing Water, in which a brother's quest to provide his twin sister with all that she desires leads to their eventual reunion with their father. Also in this vein is Hasan and the Golden Feather, in which a prince sets out to "do something worthwhile" and prove himself worthy of the throne.

Quite a few of the tales end in unexpectedly humorous ways, such as The Farmer Who Followed his Dream, in which a farmer finds that following your dream has its reward; Tanbouri's Clown, in which a seemingly indestructible pair of shoes helps to teach an old miser a lesson; and Stupid Salma, in which a husband learns that his wife is by no means the stupidest person in the world. The animal tale also makes an appearance, as the reader learns "why snakes eat frogs, why swallow has a fork in his tail and why mosquitoes can't sing" in How Swallow Tricked Snake; or discovers that those who swear falsely are always punished in Hungry Wolf and Crafty Fox. Finally, in my favorite tale of the collection, I Landed at the Prince's Party, the famed female storyteller archetype makes her appearance, weaving a story that begins and ends "with a lie."

I enjoyed reading this short collection of tales, and believe that young readers would as well. The black and white illustrations by Hannah Shaw are engaging, though by no means extraordinary. The folklorist in me was very pleased, moreover, to discover that source notes were included at the end, a feature that is always helpful to those inclined to research further. ( )