Ali Baba Fooling the Forty Thieves (An Arabian Tale) by Marie P. Croall

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g r a p h i c u n i v e r s e tm minneapolis • new york

ALI BABA IS A CHARACTER IN ARABIAN NIGHTS. ALSO story by marie p. croall

CALLED THE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, THIS BOOK IS pencils and inks by clint hilinski
A CLASSIC WORK OF ARABIC LITERATURE. THE WORK IS
coloring by hi-fi colour design
MADE UP OF APPROXIMATELY TWO HUNDRED STORIES
lettering by marshall dillon
FROM PERSIA, INDIA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN AND and terri delgado
NEAR THE MIDDLE EAST. ITS STORIES WERE COLLECTED
AND WRITTEN DOWN IN ARABIC IN ABOUT A.D. 1500. consultant: allan t. kohl, m.a.,
BRITISH SCHOLARS SIR RICHARD F. BURTON AND minneapolis college of art and design
JOHN PAYNE TRANSLATED THE STORIES INTO ENGLISH IN
THE 1800S.

IN CREATING THE STORY OF ALI BABA, AUTHOR Copyright © 2008 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
MARIE P. CROALL WORKED FROM ARABIAN NIGHTS
VOLUME I: THE MARVELS AND WONDERS OF THE Graphic UniverseTM is a trademark of Lerner
THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, ADAPTED FROM RICHARD Publishing Group, Inc.
F. BURTON’S UNEXPURGATED TRANSLATION BY JACK
ZIPES. ARTIST CLINT HILINSKI CONSULTED NUMEROUS All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
HISTORICAL RESOURCES TO SHAPE THE VISUAL CONTENT OF retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
THE TALE. IN ADDITION, ALLAN T. KOHL, ART HISTORIAN recording, or otherwise—without the prior written
AND VISUAL RESOURCES LIBRARIAN AT THE MINNEAPOLIS permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.,
COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, LENT HIS EXPERTISE TO THE except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an
PROJECT BY REVIEWING BOTH TEXT AND ART. KOHL HAS acknowledged review.
STUDIED THE ARABIAN NIGHTS TALES AND AUTHORED AN
ARTICLE ON ONE OF THE STORIES IN THE COLLECTION. Graphic UniverseTM
A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

Website address: www.lernerbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Croall, Marie P.

Ali Baba: fooling the forty thieves : an Arabian

tale : story / by Marie P. Croall ; pencils and inks by

Clint Hilinski.

p. cm. — (Graphic myths and legends)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN: 978–0–8225–7525–2 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

I. Hilinski, Clint. II. Ali Baba (Folk tale)

III. Arabian nights. IV. Title.

PZ8.C9694A1 2008

398’.352—dc22 2007019741

Manufactured in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 – JR – 13 12 11 10 09 08

eISBN-13: 978-0-7613-3993-9

table of contents

ali baba and the forest . . . 7
inside the cave . . . 12

kasim and his wife . . . 17

morgiana and the tailor . . . 27

the captain’s plan . . . 34

morgiana’s dance . . . 39

glossary and pronunciation guide . . . 46
further reading and websites . . . 47

creating ali baba: fooling the forty thieves . . . 47
index . . . 48

about the author and the artist . . . 48

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glossary and pronunciation guide

allah: the word for God in the Persia: modern-day Iran

Islamic faith rogue (rohg): a dishonest person

foil: to stop or to defeat scimitar (sih-meh-tahr): a sword

merchant: someone who makes money with a curved blade

by selling goods shroud: a cloth used to wrap a body

mourning: to be very sad for someone for burial

who has died suet (soo-it): animal fat

pauper (paw-puhr): a very poor

person

original pencil sketch from page 9

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further reading and websites

Croall, Marie P. Sinbad: Sailing Into Peril. Minneapolis: Graphic Universe,
2008. Read all about the adventures of Sinbad, another character from the
Arabian Nights stories.

Hurwitz, Johanna. The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein. New York: Morrow,
1985. When David Bernstein decides to change his name to Ali Baba, all kinds
of strange and exciting things begin to happen.

Smith, Philip. Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories. New York:
Dover, 1993. This book contains six Arabian Nights tales, including Ali
Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/alibaba.html
At this website, you can read the story of Ali Baba online.

Global Connections: The Middle East
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/index.html
This site features detailed information on the Middle East—the region of the
world where the Arabian Nights tales began.

creating ali baba: fooling the forty thieves

To create the story of Ali Baba, author Marie P. Croall relied heavily on
Arabian Nights Volume I: The Marvels and Wonders of the Thousand and One
Nights, adapted from Richard F. Burton’s unexpurgated translation by Jack Zipes.
Artist Clint Hilinski referred to multiple historical resources and worked closely
with art historian Allan T. Kohl to make the story’s rich imagery come alive.

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index

Abdullah, 34–35, 43–45 gold, 9–10, 12–16, 18–20, 26, 31, 45
Ali Baba: encountering the thieves, 7–11;
Kasim, 6, 18–30
exploring the cave, 12–13; meeting Kasim’s son, 40–42, 45
the captain of the thieves, 34 Kasim’s wife, 6, 17–19, 23–25, 27
Ali Baba’s wife, 6, 14–18, 26–27

Baba Mustafa, 29–32 Morgiana, 27–30, 32–36, 38, 42–45

captain of the thieves, 9–12, 21–22, 31–45 Persia, 6, 20
cave, 10–13, 20–22, 24–26, 31, 33, 45 pharmacist, 28

forty thieves, 7–11, 21–22, 31, 33–38

about the author and the artist

marie p. croall lives in Cary, North Carolina, with her loving husband and four

wonderful cats. She has written for Marvel, DC, Moonstone Books, Devil’s
Due, and Harris Comics. She has also completed a self-published graphic
novel and a short film. Croall has spent much of her life reading fables and
legends from the Middle East and Asia and enjoys discovering new things
about different cultures.

clint hilinski grew up in Esko, Minnesota, where he became interested in art at

an early age. He continued studying art at the University of Wisconsin,
Superior, where he received his bachelor’s degree in fine art. Hilinski’s
influences include Jim Lee, Alan Davis, and Adam Hughes. He has worked
as an illustrator for DC, Image, Dark Horse, and many other companies.
Hilinski has worked on titles such as Sinbad, Justice League of America,
Xena, Voltron, and GI Joe.

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