PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Idries Shah spent much of his life collecting Sufi classical narratives and teaching stories from oral and written sources in the Middle East and Central Asia and publishing them in book form. The eleven tales he wrote especially for children are published by Hoopoe as beautifully illustrated books, all of which have been commended by Western educators and psychologists, the Library of Congress, National Public Radio and other media for their unique ability to foster social-emotional development, thinking skills and perception in children and adults alike. Told for centuries, these stories express universal themes and a positive representation of important but often misunderstood cultures, showing how much we have in common and what we can learn from each other. They acknowledge a child's individuality and uniqueness and encourage a sense of confidence, responsibility and purpose. Idries Shah machte es sich zur Lebensaufgabe, klassische Sufi-Erzahlungen und -Lehrgeschichten aus mundlich und schriftlich uberlieferten Quellen im Nahen und Mittleren Osten und Zentralasien zu sammeln und diese in Buchform zu veroeffentlichen. Shahs elf Geschichten fur Kinder - in sehr schoen illustrierten Buchern von Hoopoe herausgegeben - werden von westlichen Padagogen und Psychologen sowie von der US-Bibliothek des Kongresses, dem Radiosender National Public Radio und anderen Medien empfohlen, weil sie die sozial-emotionale Entwicklung sowie Denk- und Wahrnehmungsfahigkeiten bei Kindern wie auch Erwachsenen auf besondere Weise foerdern. Diese Geschichten, die schon seit Jahrhunderten erzahlt werden, handeln von universellen Themen und stellen wichtige - jedoch oft missverstandene - Kulturen positiv dar. Sie zeigen, wie viel Gemeinsames wir haben und wie wir voneinander lernen koennen. Bei dieser Art von Erzahlen wird jedes Kind als einzigartiges Individuum anerkannt und gerade dadurch koennen Selbstvertrauen, Verantwortlichkeit und Zielstrebigkeit ermutigt werden.
Neem the Half-Boy deals with the universal theme of being incomplete and having to overcome difficulties to find oneself. ... [Neem] eventually becomes whole, not by resorting to violence, but through a combination of cleverness, persistence, and compromise. - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.) Shah's adaptation of this traditional Sufi tale will encourage children to contemplate the meaning of psychological 'wholeness.' - Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature The brightly colored, cheerful illustrations ... express ... upbeat peaceful messages. - Booklist (U.S.) ... rather than dwelling upon the meaning of the story, once it has been told, we follow it with the introduction of breathing techniques to lower stress and calm anxiety or anger - alternatives to breathing fire over people! In this way the children - and the teachers and parents - get to learn a useful stress management tool, while at the same time the pattern in the story is left alone to work its magic. - Ezra Hewing, Head of Education at the mental-health charity Suffolk Mind in Suffolk, U.K.; and Kashfi Khan, who teaches English as an additional language at Hounslow Town Primary School in London These teaching stories can be experienced on many levels. A child may simply enjoy hearing them; an adult may analyze them in a more sophisticated way. Both may eventually benefit from the lessons within. - All Things Considered, National Public Radio (U.S.) They [teaching stories] suggest ways of looking at difficulties that can help children solve problems calmly while, at the same time, giving them fresh perspectives on these difficulties that help them develop their cognitive abilities - psychologist Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., in his lecture Teaching Stories and the Brain given at the U.S. Library of Congress Through repeated readings, these stories provoke fresh insight and more flexible thought in children. Beautifully illustrated. - NEA Today: The Magazine of the National Education Association (U.S.) Shah's versatile and multilayered tales provoke fresh insight and more flexible thought in children. - Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature These stories ... are not moralistic fables or parables, which aim to indoctrinate, nor are they written only to amuse. Rather, they are carefully designed to show effective ways of defining and responding to common life experiences. - Denise Nessel, Ph.D., Senior Consultant with the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education (U.S.), writing in Library Media Connection: The Professional Magazine for School Library Media Specialists (U.S.) These enchanting stories Shah has collected have a richness and depth not often encountered in children's literature, and their effect on minds young and old can be almost magical. - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.) Shah has collected hundreds of Sufi tales, many of which are teaching tales or instructional stories. In this tradition, the line between stories for children and those for adults is not as clear as it seems to be in Western cultures, and the lessons are important for all generations. - School Library Journal (U.S.)
