STORIES FROM THE SILK ROAD

The intriguing tales retold in this enchanting book are memorable mainly because of the exotic watercolors on every page. Gilchrist records the folklore about dragons, demons, goddesses, spirits, and camels handed down through the ages along the ancient trade route between East and West—from Tehran in Persia to Lanzhou in China—commonly known as the Silk Road. In “The Bride with the Horse’s Head,” a mother who promises her daughter’s hand in marriage to the person who rescues her husband from robbers, then learns that the rescuer is a horse who wants his prize. Among the stories are “Monkey and the River Dragon,” “White Cloud Fairy,” and “The Enchanted Garden,” while short pieces—“The Jade Gate,” “Demons and Dragons of the Taklamakon,” “The Splendors of Samarkand,” etc.—give a sense of the places along the Silk Road. (Fiction/folklore. 8-12)