The thing that most struck me about this collection of folktales is that they are gentle. The author has retold them with love, as if to his own small children. It makes this a beautiful book to read aloud to even a very young audience. ( )

At the beginning of the book, the author describes stories as "the best travelers and the most successful migrants" because "stories do not believe in borders or countries or languages or identity or culture". This is a collection of stories from the author's childhood, which he has retold (and encourages the reader to retell in their own way). I recognized some of my favorites, with some twists, and many of them were new to me. The stories have been translated so that they could travel in English as well. The writing was okay and would work well for a read-aloud. What really drew me to this book was the cover, featuring amazing intricate papercuts by Geertje Aalders. Most of the pages have illustrations, but unfortunately the Advance Reader Copy I received was in black and white on mediocre paper, so I can't judge the artwork of the final. However, the final book will be printed in full color (hopefully on good paper), which should definitely enhance the book's appeal.

The best stories are stories that have been told and retold and retold for years and years and years. They simply can't help but be the best, after the boring parts have been left out and the exciting parts emphasized. The best stories have great characters and dramatic action and yet they also tell us something important about life.

That's what this book is. The Three Princes of Serendip is a collection of stories the author, Rodaan Al Galidi, put together based on the best stories he heard in his childhood while growing up in Iraq. ( )

I requested this ARC of Three Princes of Serendip for three reasons: 1. I’m a fan of traditional folk tales; 2. I found the colorful and vibrant cover art by Geertje Aalders appealing; and, 3. Candlewick Press is one of my favorite publishers.

I have been a lifelong picture book collector starting with my own favorite childhood books. I’ve enjoyed buying any book my young son found interesting and, later, books for my young great-nieces and great-nephews many of which came from Candlewick. I’ve always found great enjoyment in reading to little ones and encouraging readership generally.

I find it odd that such an outstanding publisher as Candlewick would choose to send out an ARC of a full-color picture book rendered completely in dull gray muddy tones. I would like to believe that some single, unsupervised and unfortunate Candlewick employee made one bad call - and, in so doing, performed an utter disservice to the author, illustrator and publisher.

It’s one thing to solicit reviews but quite another to solicit reviews based on such a distressingly poor edition. Think black & white xerox copy of your favorite artwork. It just doesn’t work. I am not a professional book critic. I do however only request ARCs that I find interesting or intriguing enough to consider reading carefully and take writing my book reviews seriously. And full-color picture book ARCs need to be in full-color.

“[An ARC is] a free copy of a new book given by a publisher … before the book is printed for mass distribution… ARCs may lack the final dust jacket, formatting, and binding of the finished product. The text of an advance edition may also differ slightly from the market book (the final version that is distributed for sale), because changes may be made after advance readers make comments or find errors in the manuscript. ARCs USUALLY ARE PRINTED IN FULL COLOR, and have bindings, format, and illustrations that are similar to those of the market book. The phrase 'uncorrected proof' appears on the ARC cover.” - wiki.

I looked forward to reading Rodaan Al Galidi’s retellings of Iraqi fairytales and folktales from his childhood - illustrated in all its full-color glory by Aalders.

The anticipation of looking forward to a shining diamond contrasts greatly with the delivery of this dull lump of coal that Candlewick sent. I expected, at worst, some grammar errors. Maybe that I favored some stories over others. Mostly, I expected to be delighted by the artwork and some possibly heretofore unknown-to-me folktales.

My disappointment is too great to judge this muddy, charmless and unpicturesque picture book ARC fairly so I will simply list the table of contents and notify Candlewick that I will be happy to invest my time and efforts in reading and reviewing this book when they wish to correct this regrettable situation and send a full-color ARC - in which case I will remove this notice and write an actual book review. In the meanwhile, I ask that someone at Candlewick let me know if you wish this ARC returned otherwise I’ll put it in with the recycling. This particular ARC simply isn’t worth my time.

Galidi states in his preface that the story origins, like most folktales, are blurred. “Stories are the best migrants and the finest travelers” so some may have originated in Russia, Germany, Turkey or other countries.

CONTENTS:
1. Jordion
2. The Partridge and the Turtles
3. The Man Who Was Never Satisfied
4. The Strict Sheikh
5. The Three Princes of Serendip
6. The Lion and the Bull
7. The Father, the Son and the Donkey
8. The Poor Woodcutter
9. The Lost Necklace
10. The Beautiful City
11. Sindibad
12. Soup
13. Murat and His Best Friend
14. The Ant and the Cockroach
15. The Arrogant Rooster
16. The Man Who Was Thirsty
17. Death and the Servant
18. The Magic Jugs
19. The Lion, the Wolf, and the Fox
20. The Wise Man and the Scorpion