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charliepeculiar's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
bardicbramley's review
3.0
I've made it a mission of mine to read as many traditional tales re-written by modern authors as I can (suggestions appreciated!), as I'm honestly not a big fan of them...
I have yet to read much else of Phillip Pullman, but of course have heard a lot of good about his work.
Although Aladdin isn't one of my personal favourites, I did enjoy this retelling. It felt closer to the original story than most, with a good amount of modern pantomime and humour.
It had a good balance vocabulary wise: Some of the language may be a little challenging or outdated for children and involve some research/scaffolding/questioning, whilst others were clearly described in a more modern way to help children see the links to the real-world (history, geography etc).
I have yet to read much else of Phillip Pullman, but of course have heard a lot of good about his work.
Although Aladdin isn't one of my personal favourites, I did enjoy this retelling. It felt closer to the original story than most, with a good amount of modern pantomime and humour.
It had a good balance vocabulary wise: Some of the language may be a little challenging or outdated for children and involve some research/scaffolding/questioning, whilst others were clearly described in a more modern way to help children see the links to the real-world (history, geography etc).
jewelzbooks44's review
4.0
Not right edition, I have hardcover. Definitely different cover. Cute retelling.
jedi_indyjones's review
3.0
I wanted to introduce the story of Aladdin to my kids. I have never read any translation of this tale in [b:The Arabian Nights|93101|The Arabian Nights|Anonymous|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388212809l/93101._SY75_.jpg|859375] and I do indeed plan to, but for the sake of time and digestibility, I thought this version would suffice. I thought the pictures were really intriguing and I thought the story was great. I find myself wondering about the real story and the context in which it was written. I was happy with this version and even happier that Pullman was the author.
kissmyash0600's review
2.0
Translation ruined it for me
I was really interested in reading the original story of Aladdin, but this was not a good translation for me. It kept the story in biblical type wording and had pages on pages of footnotes (literally at least every other line had a footnote included which became extremely distracting. The antisemitism, though understood and not unexpected added to less excitement in general. Not sure of the purpose of the preceding story-if this was a compilation and not just supposed to be Aladdin and the enchanted lamp, it would make more sense.
I was really interested in reading the original story of Aladdin, but this was not a good translation for me. It kept the story in biblical type wording and had pages on pages of footnotes (literally at least every other line had a footnote included which became extremely distracting. The antisemitism, though understood and not unexpected added to less excitement in general. Not sure of the purpose of the preceding story-if this was a compilation and not just supposed to be Aladdin and the enchanted lamp, it would make more sense.
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