Kategoria BISAC: Juvenile Fiction >> Fairy Tales & Folklore - Country & Ethnic - General

The story of Nshira, a humble, kind, beautiful village girl in Ghana who is constantly mistreated by her evil step mother and step sister. However, on the night of the ball, with a little help from some magical friends will make her dreams come true.

The Queen of Hich-Hich fails to follow the instructions given to her by Arif the Wise Man, and, as a result, gives birth to a half-boy. Neem makes himself complete by an act of cleverness, negotiation and compromise. This story helps children learn flexibility and perseverance . For more than a thousand years this story has entertained young people and helped to foster in them the ability to examine their assumptions and to think for themselves.

This tale is one of the many hundreds of Sufi developmental stories collected by Idries Shah from oral and written sources...

The Magic Horse is the story of two brothers, one skilled in the practical arts, and the other, Prince Tambal, considered by most people to be only a dreamer. Their father, the King, announces a competition to produce "interesting and useful devices" - the entry produced by a woodcarver appears to be only a simple wooden horse - apparently of little value. But, when Prince Tambal looks more closely, he discovers that the horse is able to magically transport its rider to whatever place is in the rider's mind. In this way, Prince Tambal comes to learn a great many things, and...

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...

The Silly Chicken is a delightful and humorous tale about a chicken who learns to speak as we do - with surprising and unexpected consequences. The events that follow intrigue young children and, and at the same time, alert them in a very amusing way to the dangers of being too quick to believe everything you hear.

Illustrator Jeff Jackson creates a lively and amusing world, rich in color and expression, in which anything can happen.

This tale is one of the many hundreds of Sufi developmental stories collected by Idries Shah from oral and written sources in Central...

In this amusing story, an old woman encounters an eagle for the first time. Perplexed by its unfamiliar appearance, she decides to change it to suit her own ideas of what a bird should look like. Her efforts mirror a common pattern of human thought: altering the unfamiliar to make it acceptable. This tale is specially presented for children by Afghan author Idries Shah, who, for more than 30 years, collected stories from the Sufi tradition and adapted them to contemporary Western culture. Told since ancient times throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, such tales are used to help...

A good-natured lion sees his reflection in a pool and gasps at the fierce creature staring back at him and is too frightened to drink. Children will learn through the lion how to deal positively with fears and inhibitions that so often arise from situations they as yet may not understand.

Idries Shah's collections of Eastern oral and written literature have established the Sufi teaching-story as an educational instrument. The original version of this story was told by the 13th Century Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi.

Ingrid Rodriguez has illustrated this tale, bringing the animals...

Because she fails to follow the precise instructions given to her by Arif the Wise Man, the Queen of Hich-Hich gives birth to a half-boy. That Neem is able to make himself complete by an act of cleverness, negotiation and compromise teaches children much more than the expected, usual lesson of bravery.

This tale is one of the many hundreds of Sufi developmental stories collected by Idries Shah from oral and written sources in Central Asia and the Middle East. For more than a thousand years this story has entertained young people and helped to foster in them...

The story of The Farmer's Wife tells how a woman first loses an apple into a hole in the ground, and then attempts a series of efforts to get it back. Children enjoy learning to repeat the sequence from memory, and when the story takes a sudden turn, contrary to all expectations, they also learn important lessons on how to resolve problems creatively.

The strikingly beautiful illustrations by Rose Mary Santiago invoke the origins of the story -- this traditional story has been told for hundreds of years in the Middle East and Central Asia -- while at the same time lending a...

When a boy visits another village, he is surprised to find the townspeople terrified of something that -- just because they have not seen it before -- they mistake for a terrible, dangerous animal. With his own knowledge and by demonstration, the boy helps them overcome their fears.

This story is part of an oral tradition from the Middle East and Central Asia that is more than a thousand years old. In an entertaining way, it introduces children to an interesting aspect of human behavior and so enables them to recognize it in their daily...

Fatima is a young woman whose life seems beset by one disaster after another. Setting forth on a journey from her home in the West, she is shipwrecked and cast ashore alone near Alexandria. Adopted by a family of weavers, and beginning to prosper in her new life, she is captured and made to work making masts. Undertaking a journey to sell the masts, her ship is wrecked off the coast of China. It is only here that Fatima finally realizes that what seemed to be disasters were really essential steps towards realizing her eventual fulfillment. A story of wisdom and depth, ideal as a bedtime...

In this amusing story, an old woman encounters an eagle for the first time. Perplexed by its unfamiliar appearance, she decides to change it to suit her own ideas of what a bird should look like. Her efforts mirror a common pattern of human thought: altering the unfamiliar to make it acceptable. This tale is specially presented for children by Afghan author Idries Shah, who, for more than 30 years, collected stories from the Sufi tradition and adapted them to contemporary Western culture. Told since ancient times throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, such tales are used to help...

When a boy visits another village, he is amazed to find the townspeople terrified of something that--just because they have not seen it before--they mistake for a terrible, dangerous animal. With his own knowledge and by demonstration, he helps them overcome their fears.

This tale is one of the many hundreds of Sufi developmental stories collected by Idries Shah from oral and written sources in Central Asia and the Middle East. For more than a thousand years this story has entertained young people and helped to foster in them the ability to examine their assumptions and to...

Fatima's life is beset with what seem 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.

This Teaching-Story is well known in Greek folklore, but this version is attributed to Sheikh Mohamed Jamaludin of Adrianople (modern-day Edirne) in Turkey who died in 1750. It was first published by Idries Shah in 1967 in his classic work, Tales of the Dervishes, Teaching-Stories of...

From the authors who wrote and illustrated Ola, Leif the Lucky, and Children of the Northlights comes their collection of Norwegian folktales. First printed in 1938, this selection of timeless stories returns to enchant audiences all over again. Experience Norway's magical world of cinderlads, princesses, and trolls throughout the pages of d'Aulaires' Book of Norwegian Folktales.

This story is about a badly behaved man and how a young boy initiates a plan to change his behavior and, with the help of all the villagers, succeeds. It will bring laughter to young children and, at the same time, teach them valuable lessons about conflict resolution, initiative and co-operation.

Part of a rich body of literature from Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Middle East, this story is one of many collected and retold for children by the Afghan author Idries Shah. It is the first in this series to be set in the West.

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