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The Tale of the Land of Green Ginger

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Not to be confused with Land of Green Ginger, the street in Kingston upon Hull, or other works named after it.

Land of Green Ginger
AuthorNoel Langley
LanguageEnglish
GenreChildren's Literature, Satire
PublisherPuffin
Publication date
1937, 1966, 1975
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback, 1 volume)

The Tale of the Land of Green Ginger is a 1937 book for children by Noel Langley.[1] (Later editions shortened the title to The Land of Green Ginger.) The book is illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. It tells the story of Abu Ali, the son of Aladdin (who is now emperor of China). Abu Ali's first words are "Button-nosed tortoise", which immediately mark him out as fated to perform an important task when he grows up. On reaching maturity, Abu Ali duly sets out on his quest (the hero's journey), has various adventures, and struggles to do good whilst foiling the schemes of the Wicked Princes, Rubdub Ben Thud and Tintac Ping Foo.

The book was adapted for television on Shirley Temple's Storybook.

The book is one of the first by a modern writer to tell the story of what happens in the world of a fairy tale after "they all lived happily ever after", and is particularly highly regarded for its amusing word-play.[2]

The book was a big enough success that it encouraged MGM to hire Langley to adapt another children's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, for the 1939 film.[1]

The story was read by Kenneth Williams for the BBC's Jackanory in December 1968. However, if you buy a copy you need to be very careful as to whether you are getting the 1937 version or the 1966 one. The latter has a number of cuts which markedly reduce the wit; but the earlier version is very hard to get hold of-- although allegedly the Kindle version is the 1937 one.

References

  1. ^ a b Coan, Stephen (22 December 2011). "KZN's very own screen wizard". The Witness. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  2. ^ The Land of Green Ginger at David R. Godine, Publisher


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