* A weave of words by Robert D. San Souci *                                         1998


     This story is a traditional title because it is a folktale/fairytale.  It is better for older aged children.  4th grade and above because of the content inside of the story.  There is beasts, death, and love which is too much for younger children to understand and could frighten or even traumatize a small child.    This story is about Prince Vachagan who is looking for a wife.  He sees Anait and knows he wants to marry her, a commoner who is a weaver's daughter.  In order for him to marry Anait, Prince Vachagan must learn to weave, read and write.  Anait and her father says that even though he may be king someday, he must have a trade to fall back on if something every goes awry.  He learns to read write and weave and marries Anait.  His parents pass away, and he takes over.  There is a serious problem in the east and must leave his beautiful bride and go see what the problem is since none of his soldiers are returning with news.  He discovers the cause, a three headed ogre monster who is arresting and killing any man who does not have a specialized trait.  He captures the King Vachagan, and the King tells him that he does have a craft, he can weave.  He tells the Ogre to allow him to weave a beautiful rug and to send it to the king and queen and tell them its worth 100 gold coins.  Inside he weaves a special message to his queen and the ogre sends one of his men to take the weave to the queen.  She receives the message, has the ogres man killed and rallies up her own army and goes to save her king from the ogre.  She slays the ogre herself because he does not believe a woman could ever take him down, and uses her craft to trap and slay him.  This story has a lot different components.  There is love, death and monsters. It has great illustrations, and is best suited for an older audience do to the monster and possibility of death scenes. 



genre: traditional
year: 1998
level: 4th grade and above