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Race/Culture: Middle Eastern/North African/Arab

Drummer girl

2016

by Hiba Masood and Hoda Hadadi

Year after year, in the blessed month of Ramadan, little Najma has happily arisen to the drum beat of her neighborhood's musaharati. He walks through the streets of her small Turkish village, waking each family for the pre-dawn meal before the long day of fasting. Najma wants nothing more than to be a musaharati herself one day, but no girl has ever taken on the role before. Will she have what it takes to be the drummer girl of her dreams? Find out in this inspirational story of sincerity, determination, and believing in yourself.

Beautiful Life

Fatima the spinner and the tent

2016

by Idries Shah and Natasha Delmar

"Fatima's life is beset with what seems to be disasters. Her journey leads her from Morocco to the Mediterranean, Egypt, Turkey and, finally, to China. It is in China that she realizes that what seemed at the time to be really unfortunate events were an integral part of her eventual fulfillment."--Jacket flap

Cross Group Folklore

Dari version available in the Bates catalog.

Pashto version available in the Bates catalog.

Neem the Half-boy

2016

by Idries Shah, Midori Mori and Robert Revels

Because she does not faithfully follow the instructions of Arif the Wise Man, the Queen of Hich-Hich gives birth to a half-boy, who grows up to be very clever and confronts a dragon in an effort to become whole

Folklore

Dari version available in Bates catalog

Pahsto version available in Bates catalog

Stepping stones

2016

by Margriet Ruurs and Nizar Ali Badr

"In this picture book, a young girl and her family are forced to flee their village to escape the civil war that has engulfed Syria and make their way toward freedom in Europe"--|cProvided by publisher

Beautiful Life Oppression & Resilience

The boy without a name

2016

by Idries Shah and Mona Caron

A Sufi teaching tale of a boy without a name who visits a wise man and acquires both a name and a wonderful dream

Folklore

Pashto version available in Bates catalog.

Dari version available in Bates catalog.

The clever boy and the terrible, dangerous animal

2016

by Idries Shah and Rose Mary Santiago

A Sufi teaching tale of a boy who visits another village and helps the townspeople deal with their fear of something that they have mistaken for a terrible, dangerous animal

Folklore

Pashto version available in Bates catalog.

Dari version available in Bates catalog.

The Farmer’s Wife

2016

by Idries Shah and Rose Mary Santiago

A cumulative Sufi teaching tale of a farmer's wife who is trying to retrieve an apple from a hole in the ground

Folklore

Dari version available in the Bates catalog.

Pashto version available in the Bates catalog.

The magic horse

2016

by Idries Shah and Julie Freeman

A Sufi teaching tale in which two very different princes find their hearts' desires: one in a wondrous, mechanical fish, the other in a magical wooden horse

Folklore

Dari version available in the Bates catalog.

Pashto version available in the Bates catalog.

The man and the fox

2016

by Idries Shah and Sally Mallam

"A man tricks a young fox into believing that he will give him a chicken. The fox is trapped, but through ingenuity and perseverance, he escapes. Reading this story inspires children to face challenges directly, and even to use the obstacles in their paths to solve problems. This story belongs to the rich and ancient storytelling tradition of Central Asia and the Middle East. Retold here by the author and educator Idries Shah, it is one of a series of illustrated books for the young. These tales are designed to foster thinking skills and perception. In an entertaining way, the stories introduce children to interesting aspects of human behavior and help them learn to recognize these patterns in daily life" --

Folklore Incidental

Pashto version available in Bates catalog.

Dari version available in Bates catalog.

The old woman and the eagle

2016

by Idries Shah and Natasha Delmar

A Sufi teaching tale from Afghanistan about an old woman who insists that an eagle must really be a pigeon

Folklore Incidental

Pashto version available in Bates catalog.

Dari version available in Bates catalog.

Many of the cover images on this site are from Google Books.

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