Courageous Ali and the Heartless King
Tariq Mehmood, illustrated by Abbas Shah, Satchel, 2006,
ISBN 0-9552539-2-6, £6.99
This is the adventure – part Sinbad the Sailor, part Aladdin – of 13-year-old Ali who sets off to find his father who has been taken prisoner in the Great Palace of King Khauf. The action includes a secret army of flying farting camels and a cloak of invisibility but is primarily a tale of courage and hope in the midst of cruelty and war. King Khauf and Prince Gosler are Bush and Blair and this is the story of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The message is that children and young people can resist lies and injustice where adults are coerced into submission and conformity. There is hope for the future.
Tariq Mehmood, who regularly goes into schools to tell stories, knows well that children have a tendency towards being fair and an instinct for truth. This book will entertain and inform and, more than that, validate the instinctive revulsion that children in this country feel for the conduct of British politicians. A recommended read – buy it as a present for young teens and enjoy it yourself.
Susan Davidson
FRFI 195 February / March 2007
