The Dragon’s Crown

AGE: 10-15

Uri Orlev asks moral questions in a fantasy tale that is a parable of good and evil.
Princess Mayalila will inherit all she sees, and as far as the eye can see everything belongs to the Eastern Kingdom. This is a land of Good where there are no bad actions or words, no killing, and no death. Peace ends when Prince Akraton, from the evil Western Kingdom, shows the people that there is beauty in evil, and in this way he gains a following. The problem becomes even more complicated when Princess Mayalila is kidnapped by the Silent Ones. The only way to appease the Silent Ones is to offer them a dragon`s crown, and there is only one man who knows how to hunt a dragon: the Black Prince Akraton. And so the king makes a pact with the devil to get his daughter back. Akraton pursues Mayalila, and what follows is a love story in which Uri Orlev expresses his own vision of optimism.

Illustrations: Avner Katz