Reading is Magic: 1. Magical Creatures: Genies

As Term 2 draws to an end, I can now turn my thoughts to next term and Book Week. The theme 'Reading is Magic' may be problematic for some, but it makes me think firstly of fairytales and the stories that include 'magic' or have 'magical' elements...stories such as Sleeping Beauty, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Cinderella, The Frog Prince and Aladdin which exemplify what makes a fairytale a fairytale.

While taking books off the shelves for a display, I collected together all the versions of Aladdin  that we have. Browsing the illustrations it was fascinating to see how the illustrators had depicted the genie, the giver of wishes. Who wouldn't like that 'magic'? Everyone dreams of having three wishes.

There's a new book in the library that I bought for Book Week and this theme. It is called The Bedtime Book of Magical Creatures by Stephen Krensky. I looked up 'genie' (page 108 -109) and learned that I should say 'jinn' who are magical spirits from Arabic culture. Marids are the most powerful of all jinn. Marids usually look like people and can perform supernatural deeds and if they are in a good mood they grant wishes. So strictly speaking the boy, Aladdin meets a jinn, probably a marid.

So then, what is a 'genie'? An anglicised version of jinn? The dictionary says

 a spirit of Arabian folklore, frequently depicted as being imprisoned within a bottle or oil                      lamp and as being capable of granting wishes when summoned.

The story of 

Aladdin is a classic rags to riches story featuring a young hero, a beautiful princess, an evil villain and a magical genie. It has come to be one of the most well-known and retold fairytales of all time, But looking online at bookstore websites there does not appear to be many versions available to buy other than Disney film tie-ins. Of course, there will be versions in any compilation of tales, such as The Arabian Nights or TheThousand and One Nights. 

Unfortunately, my students think that Aladdin is a Disney movie and that the book versions are not the 'real' Aladdin so I will have some convincing to do. I will read them the story and show them other books with genies. The library has these versions of Aladdin.

Finding other books that feature genies for my very young readers wasn't that easy either.

Your library may have:

The Teeny Weeny Genie  by Julia Donaldson and Anna Curry

Old Macdonald is cleaning out his farmhouse kitchen when he comes across a dusty old teapot. And no one could be more surprised when a wish-granting genie pops out of the spout. Old Macdonald wishes for a wife, who wishes for a baby.

A version of the Arabian tale The Fisherman and the Genie

A poor fisherman nets a strange pot instead of fish to feed his family. Luckily, there is a genie inside. Unluckily, that genie is furious.

Tashi and the Genie  by Anna Feinberg (one book in a big series)

Little Legends and the Genie's Curse by Tom Percival (one of a series of six)

Emma and the Blue Genie  by Cornelia Funke

One night, Emma finds a mysterious green bottle floating in the ocean. When she pulls out the stopper, she sets a blue genie free! Most genies grant three wishes, but Karim can’t grant even one anymore.

A Sudden Puff of Glittering Smoke  by Anne Fine (Bk 1 of three book series)

One day in the school playground, Jeanie found a ring. When she rubbed it and said her name for the dinner register, a Genie came out of the ring! He said that Jeanie's wish was his command, and at first, Jeanie was astonished and really happy, but she's about to realise that she and the genie have different point of view.

Manju wants to get a present for her Mum's birthday but Cumin her cat isn't sure about the toy elephant or robot. So when they find Grandma's magic lamp, Manju is granted seven wishes to find the best present.

Stanley can’t believe it when he finds a genie inside a teapot. He can have anything he wants!

There are two series of chapter books that make good class serials.

Genie and Teeny, a four book series by Steven Lennon features a genie named Grant, who has been cast out of Genie World and is now on Earth without a lamp. He is lonely, but one day is befriended by a dog, Teeny and together they have magical adventures.

Genie in Training  by Ciaran Murtagh is a three book series. When Jamie's gran gives him a battered old teapot he reckons she's gone doolally! But then he cleans it, and out pops Balthazar Najar, a banished genie! Balthazar grants three wishes but, for the last one, Jamie accidentally wishes he was a genie.