Ten classic tales from the Middle East and Africa are handsomely illustrated in an oversize format that is used to strong effect by Ingpen, whose full-page paintings are meticulously detailed, warmly colored and strikingly composed. While Hayes plays it safe with her selections from the Middle East (David and Goliath, Aladdin), the stories from sub-Saharan Africa are rarer treasures: "The Horns of Plenty" are those of a bull that sacrifices itself for a motherless child; the courage of Zulu Princess "Untombinde" saves a handsome young man cursed with the body of a snake. While a few of the animal stories are lighthearted, most are serious and formal in tone. This quality is least effective in the final trickster tale that seems more mean spirited than clever.