The Garden of Abdul Gasazi

This week in our Readers Workshop, we read The Garden of Abdul Gasazi. In the story, Alan falls asleep on a couch and then wakes up and goes on a frightening adventure into a magician's garden. The book's words sound as if the adventure is real, but the pictures give tiny hints that maybe the whole adventure is a dream. One hint is that the framed picture hanging on the wall over Alan's head while he's napping looks quite a bit like two of the scenes in Abdul Gasazi's garden. Since things in your dreams sometimes look a little like things you have seen when you're awake, perhaps Alan's memory of the framed picture makes its way into a dream. The flower pattern on the rug near the couch is also repeated several times in the Gasazi adventure - can you find them?





Readers, Alan's adventure may not be a dream after all. What hints did you find in the story that maybe his adventure was not a dream, but actually happened? Do you believe that Fritz really was turned into a duck by Gasazi? Or, do you believe it was all a trick? Leave a comment to share your thoughts. Be sure to back up your ideas with evidence from the story!