FATIMA AND THE DREAM THIEF

The wealthy lord of a castle strikes a peculiar deal with a desperately poor boy, Hassan. If Hassan can work for the man for a week without losing his temper, he'll receive a gold coin. If he becomes angry and forfeits his coin, the castle's owner will also have the right to take Hassan's dreams. Hassan works hard all week, but allows himself to be provoked by his master on the last day. Without pay or his dreams, Hassan trudges home, where sister Fatima vows to redress the wrong. She agrees to work for the Dream Thief on the same terms, but makes him promise her two gold coins if he loses his temper. During the week Fatima keeps her eyes open, studying her master and puzzling over the secrets of the locked room and the old mute woman who also toils in the castle. Ultimately, Fatima earns not two gold coins, but ten, as well as the grateful friendship of all under the thumb of the Dream Thief, by releasing the caged butterflies of dreams from his locked room. Schami and his collaborators on The Crow Who Stood on His Beak (p. 536) have created a rich and fully realized setting for this robust story. The illustrations are extraordinary—forced in perspective, free in format, and lucid within the terms of the book's exotic realm. A visual treat with a gutsy heroine at its center. (Picture book. 5-8)