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32 pp.
| Tiny Owl
| May, 2019
|
TradeISBN 978-1-910328-03-3$16.99
(2)
K-3
Translated by Azita Rassi.
Illustrated by
Marjan Vafaeian.
Persian merchant Mah Jahan collects birds and keeps them "in cages...so that they couldn't...leave her." When her favorite, a parrot, asks her to visit its former colony in India, she does and is shocked when one of the wild birds drops dead. Back home, Mah Jahan tells her parrot what happened--and it drops dead. But it's a ruse: the parrot's friends sent "a story...to teach me how to escape." A thought-provoking, visually striking retelling originally published in Tehran.
Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2019
40 pp.
| Scholastic
| August, 2015
|
TradeISBN 978-0-545-63670-4$17.99
(2)
K-3
Illustrated by
Eugene Yelchin.
When merchant Ahmad brings a mysterious creature to his village, curious villagers climb through a window in his barn, each touching just a part of the creature and leaping to conclusions about what it might be. Yelchin's paintings balance the characteristic Persian style of repetitive patterns with lots of open space. The book should provide opportunities for discussions about perception.
Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2015
32 pp.
| North-South
| May, 2014
|
TradeISBN 978-0-7358-4171-0$17.95
(3)
K-3
Though he lives in a golden cage and is well cared for, a pet parrot longs to be free. After the parrot escapes, his owner, a rich merchant, realizes that "Freedom is more important than food and water and all the wealth in the world." The Rumi-inspired story is well translated, and Iranian artist Rashin's illustrations are bold, lusciously textured, and, at times, comical.
32 pp.
| Cavendish
| April, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-7614-5527-1$19.99
(3)
4-6
Demi tells of the great mystical poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Born in Afghanistan in 1207, he traveled throughout Asia Minor and settled in what is now Turkey. The text intersperses verses of Rumi's poetry with his life story. Each page includes luminous illustrations, dominated by golds, blues, and reds, which were inspired by thirteenth-century Asian artwork.
128 pp.
| Light
| March, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-1-59784-124-5$12.95
(4)
4-6
Translated by Jeannette Squires Okur.
Illustrated by
Erdinç Semen.
These fables culled from the writings of thirteenth-century Persian poet Rumi stress virtue, good will, understanding, pragmatism, and respect for the human spirit. Like Aesop's, many of these tales involve animal characters whose actions instill reflective and moralistic interpretations of behavior and life. Each concludes with a moral. Unremarkable black-and-white sketches illustrate the text.