Reading the Arabian Nights with Children

The Arabian Nights has thrilled readers for more than a thousand years. Its tales of jinn, flying horses, clever servants and brave travellers are perfect for children. But the full book was not written for them. This page explains how we adapt it and how you can use it.

Who these stories are for

We write for children aged 6 to 12. Younger children enjoy hearing a night read aloud. Older children can read alone. Most nights take five to ten minutes to read. Every night page has a "Listen" button: a calm narrator reads the story with a voice on your own device, with gentle sound effects you can turn off.

What we keep and what we change

We retell every night from Richard Burton's 1885 English translation, in the same order as the book. We keep the plot, the characters, the setting and the famous cliffhangers. We change three things:

• Grown-up themes. Romance, cruelty and violence are told gently or left out. When a story needs a hard moment, such as a danger or a loss, we say it simply and without detail.
• Unkind old descriptions. Burton's translation describes some people by skin colour, religion or background in ways that are hurtful and wrong. We leave these out.
• Language. Short sentences and everyday words. New or old words are explained under each night.

The opening story is darker than most: a king who has been betrayed makes a cruel law. Our prologue keeps that danger, because it is what makes Scheherazade's courage matter, but it tells it without frightening detail. You may want to read it together first.

How to use each night

Each night has the story, a picture, the lesson, a few questions to talk about and a short list of new words. Some ideas:

• Stop where Scheherazade stops, and ask your child to guess what happens next.
• Use the questions at the end to talk about promises, fairness, kindness and courage.
• Look at the wiki together to meet the characters and find the places on a map.
• For older children, compare a paragraph with the original text, linked at the bottom of every night.

Is it safe to use?

The site has no ads, no sign-ups, no comments and no tracking cookies. We do not collect personal information from children. Links to other websites go only to sources such as Project Gutenberg and Wikipedia.

Questions or concerns

If something in a story worries you, or you find a mistake, please tell us through the Mandato Agency contact page. We fix errors as soon as we can. You can read more about us and about the book.