Zahara's Rose

by Libby Hathorn, Doris Unger (Illustrator)

Overview

What will happen when Zahara reaches the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and tries to see the Queen? With a cart full of plants and the straggly weed her father calls The Flower of Heaven, she and her mother and grandmother pass through the Ishtar Gates on the way to the marvellous Hanging Gardens, built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his Queen, Amyritis. But a guard refuses entry for Zahara and laughs at the Flower of Heaven...

Libby Hathorn has told a gentle, celebratory tale, illuminated by the evocative illustrations of Doris Unger.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940014709101
Publisher:	IP (Interactive Publications Pty Ltd)
Publication date:	06/20/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	34
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Libby Hathorn is an award winning author of more than 50 books for children. Her stories have been translated and adapted to stage and screen.

Her best-selling novel Thunderwith has been adapted into a movie by Hallmark Hall of Fame, starring Judy Davies; and her recent historical novel Georgiana: Woman of Flowers into a stage play. Her most recent novel is Fire Song.

Libby lectures part-time at Sydney University and travels widely in her role as Australia Day Ambassador, and for her current project 100 Views, a celebration of the arts in small communities. Her recent documentary 100 Views Kathmandu is screening on community channels in Australia. Her latest IP Kidz book is I Love You Book.

Doris Unger has a background in Fine Art, Animation and Graphic Design.

She lived in Melbourne for many years where she studied Animation and Electronic Design, also working in commercial and series animation. She was involved in creating acres of murals in the Royal Children’s Hospital and regularly exhibited
her own paintings in galleries.

Doris grew up on a rich diet of European fairy tales and especially loved the pictures. When she was older Medieval illuminated manuscripts fascinated her, in particular the colours and the ‘doodles’ in the margins.

Having European parents who were both born and raised in the Middle East, Doris was drawn to the amazing imagery and story in Zahara’s Rose and felt a personal link as her own father is a passionate gardener.

Doris currently lives in northern New South Wales where she is working on her own illustrated stories.

Editorial Reviews

What I loved about Zahara's Rose was the reminder that, something now so common to us, must have seemed exquisite when first discovered. Libby describes the perfume as the perfume of paradise, honey, musk, cinnamon. Only sweeter. The Flower of Heaven. And yet, now we take this flower for granted. Let's hope, that when our children of today hear Zahara's story, they will remember to stop and smell the roses.

Jackie Hosking

The setting for this beautifully illustrated book is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that overlook the Euphrates River, created by King Nebuchadnezzar for his new bride, Queen Amyritis, to alleviate any longing for her homeland, Persia. This delicate story on the birth of beauty is illustrated in both soft and vibrant watercolour, with pages and cover framed in attractive borders.

Anatasia Gonis

This historically-based story is set in the area once called Babylon, but is now Iraq. Clever end papers display coloured maps of the Middle East as it was when the story is set and now. The story is about Zahara's journey with her family to the palace of Babylon in order to deliver plants, including a very special Flower of Heaven plant (the rose) to the Queen of Babylon.

Sharon Greenaway

An appealing story which touches the heart, Libby Hathorn’s Zahara’s Rose is sweet and real and awakens you to a different kind of life where things are simpler but social issues are the same. The three generations of women travelling together is a nice touch for me, and the incorporation of physical prejudices makes it a good book for children who experience them, as well as others who are learning about accepting diversity in all forms.

Angela Hall