Overview

(Bilingual English-Dari edition) 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 foster greater mental flexibility and insight in people of all ages. The Old Woman and the Eagle is wonderfully illustrated by Natasha Delmar, who was taught to paint by her father, the celebrated classic Chinese painter Ng Yi-Ching.

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9781946270160

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Reviews

... a timeless lesson for young children and for the adults reading to them. - Foreword Reviews (U.S.) A fine story ... very highly recommended. - Midwest Book Review (U.S.) Natasha Delmar's eye-catching color illustrations add a special touch to this wonderful story about learning to be open to new sights and things. - Midwest Book Review (U.S.) In this gloriously illustrated tale, an old woman grooms an eagle to represent what she thinks is a pigeon-the only type of bird with which she is familiar ... The classic story, packaged in an elegant design, will be a good addition to every collection. - Kirkus Reviews (U.S.) 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.) ... these are vibrant, engaging, universal stories.... - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.) ... a series of children's books that have captivated the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. The books are tales from a rich tradition of story telling from Central Asia and the Middle East. Stories told and retold to children, by campfire and candlelight, for more than a thousand years. - NEA Today: The Magazine of the National Education Association (U.S.)

"""... a timeless lesson for young children and for the adults reading to them."" - Foreword Reviews (U.S.) ""A fine story ... very highly recommended."" - Midwest Book Review (U.S.) ""Natasha Delmar's eye-catching color illustrations add a special touch to this wonderful story about learning to be open to new sights and things."" - Midwest Book Review (U.S.) ""In this gloriously illustrated tale, an old woman grooms an eagle to represent what she thinks is a pigeon-the only type of bird with which she is familiar ... The classic story, packaged in an elegant design, will be a good addition to every collection."" - Kirkus Reviews (U.S.) ""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.) ""... these are vibrant, engaging, universal stories...."" - Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (U.S.) ""... a series of children's books that have captivated the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. The books are tales from a rich tradition of story telling from Central Asia and the Middle East. Stories told and retold to children, by campfire and candlelight, for more than a thousand years."" - NEA Today: The Magazine of the National Education Association (U.S.)"

Author Information

Idries Shah spent much of his life collecting and publishing Sufi classical narratives and teaching stories from oral and written sources in the Middle East and Central Asia. The tales he retold especially for children are published by Hoopoe Books in beautifully illustrated editions and have been widely commended - by Western educators and psychologists, the U.S. 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 from the cultures that produced them, showing how much we have in common and can learn from each other. As noted by reviewers, such stories are more than just entertaining; familiarity with them provokes flexibility of thought, since each one contains levels of meaning that unfold in accordance with an individual's experience and understanding.

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