FROM THE PUBLISHER

Walid was a model prince: handsome, intelligent, skilled in the arts of warfare and poetry. But the kingdom boasted one greater poet than he, and out of jealousy Walid cursed the man to create an impossible work of art: a carpet showing the history of the entire human race. The poet died weaving it. Men went mad seeing it. And when it is stolen, Walid discovers his life's quest: to recover the carpet and earn forgiveness for his mistakes. Inspired by the story of a real king of pre-Muslim Arabia, LEGEND is a magical fantasy, a meditation on destiny, and an utterly thrilling adventure.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Caitlyn Payne

As a young man, all Prince Walid wanted was to win the prestigious poetry competition of Ukaz, and be known as the greatest poet in the land. But when he is defeated in the competition two years in a row by a humble carpet weaver, his life is changed forever. Driven by jealousy and hatred, Walid forces the carpet weaver into servitude, ordering him to organize the royal library and then weave a carpet containing the history of the human race. The nearly impossible task blinds and eventually kills the carpet weaver, but not before he creates a masterpiece—a carpet of dizzying color and life encompassing the history of humanity. Stunned and shamed by the cost of what the weaver created, Walid locks the carpet deep inside his palace. But when the carpet is stolen and Walid is betrayed by his advisor, he sets out to retrieve the carpet on what becomes an odyssey of learning. As Walid tracks the carpet thieves across the desert, through cities and foreign lands, he learns humanity and compassion, kindness and forgiveness. With the help of a tribe of bandits, a compassionate merchant, and the steadfast love of a Bedouin woman, Walid begins to see the world in a new way, and learns to listen to his heart before his pride. He learns that one's position in life means nothing if one has no heart, and that wonders will be seen in extraordinary ways and places if you have the courage to look for them. Based on a true story, this is an exceptional tale and a wonderful addition to any library. 2005, Scholastic, Ages 10 up.

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10-The author of several books in her native Spain, Gallego Garc'a has set this quasi-historical fable in pre-Islamic Arabia. Crown Prince Walid ibn Hujr, "a fine prince, attentive, generous, and brave," has everything except for recognition as a poet. When for three consecutive years his "perfect" poems lose to an unknown at a competition, he devises an atrocious (and pointless) revenge. Alas, he is too flat a character to accommodate such a contradiction. Gallego Garc'a tells readers that her hero is "courtly, open-minded, and friendly," but shows him as petty, vain, heartless, and deceitful. His sudden remorse is as unfounded as his initial cruelty, and his inaction and turnaround are equally inexplicable. There are fairy-tale elements here-a fantastic carpet, a wicked sidekick, a beautiful woman, a predictable narrative structure--but the central character is at once too good and too evil to believe in, and too clueless to care about. The setting is a sixth-century Arabian court, but readers don't experience its sounds, odors, or tastes. Walid learns not from his own experience, but via magic. The rival's winning poems succeed because they are "real" and have "heart": unfortunately, this fiction doesn't. Its weighty pronouncements about art, fate, and responsibility are undercut by its thinness of character, texture, and morality.-Patricia D. Lothrop, St. George's School, Newport, RI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Set in the deserts of Arabia, before Islam, this wonderful, fantastical fairy tale, translated from Spanish, is at once fresh and familiar. The story begins when Prince Walid ibn Hujr desires to be a famous poet. For three years in a row, however, the same humble carpet weaver, Hammad ibn al-Haddad, wins the palace-sponsored contest, a humiliation that transforms the well-liked, once-noble prince into an embittered, jealous-hearted shadow of his former self. In retaliation, the prince burdens the weaver with an impossible task: to weave a carpet that contains all of human history, past, present and future. To his astonishment, the weaver does so, but the arduous work blinds and ultimately kills the man. When the miraculous carpet is stolen, the prince, now the king, takes to the desert to find it, and spends the rest of his life trying to make amends for his loathsome actions. This beautifully symmetrical tale of the possibility of redemption, of fate vs. free will, of the necessity of heart in art, will enthrall readers young and old. (author's note) (Fiction. 10-12)