ABU ALI: Three Tales of the Middle East
By
Blink three times and you might miss the follies of Abu Ali: he from his friends' table; he cooks his friends' dinner over a single candle after they cheat him out of a bet by insisting that candles give heat; he loses one of his nine donkeys on his way home from market, only to have the missing animal reappear as soon as he dismounts! Of course for Ready-to-Readers, the brevity of these mini-folk tales is an asset; Berson's fluid, familiar Turks are the credible targets of Ali's mix-ups and the stories packs the right kick for their size.