The Thieves' Market - Hardcover

Grade 2-4-- Shades of mauve, subdued colors, and shadowy shapes and figures set the mood in this dreamlike story of night adventures. Outside the town the thieves open their market and three children come to inspect their wares. While the king of the gypsies watches silently, Susan trades her drawing for a painting of a dancer, Tim chooses a violin and plays a song, and the boy dreamer exchanges a stone for a splendid ride on a milk-white horse. Dawn comes, and the stalls are hastily closed. Haseley tells a surrealistic tale, a fantasy that hints, like a dream sequence, of hidden meaning. Perhaps it is time that the thieves steal away in their market. Perhaps each of the children leaps forward to what they will be in their future. Perhaps the night market is a magical place where unconscious desires take on familiar shapes. The story cannot be easily explained. It will frustrate practical children who ask for concrete facts, but it may intrigue the curious, the lovers of mystery and magic. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.