Israeli author Ehud Ben-Ezer and American illustrator Uri Shulevitz join forces in this entertaining picture book based on Arab folklore, as the eponymous shepherd dreams of the far-off places. Elated when he is able to accompany the sheikh who employs him on a journey to the city, Hosni keeps his eyes open, spending his single dinar on a single verse of poetry. Although mocked by his fellow shepherds, the wisdom of these words—"Don't cross the water until you know its depths"—saves his life, and introduces him to someone who will become a life-long companion...

I was well acquainted with Uri Shulevitz's work, when picking up Hosni the Dreamer: An Arabian Tale, having enjoyed a number of his other picture books, including his Caldecott Medal-winning The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, the Caldecott Honor-winning Snow, and his adaptation of a Peretz tale, The Magician, which I loved as a girl. Ehud Ben-Ezer, on the other hand, was a new name for me, which was exciting, as I have been meaning to improve my familiarity with Israeli children's literature. That being said, I'm not sure this is a translation, as I see no information about an original edition, nor about any translator, in the book's colophon. Perhaps Ben-Ezer wrote the story here in English, intending it for American publication. However that may be, I found this one very enjoyable, appreciating both the story and the artwork. The text is well-written and engaging, drawing the reader into Hosni's story, while the artwork shines. The color scheme used here is suffused with light, and works perfectly for a story set in a desert locale. My only critique of the book would be that I wish some information about the original Arab folktale upon which the story was based had been included. It felt very familiar to me, as if I had read it in another form somewhere (not unlikely, given how much folklore I read), but I couldn't place it. Leaving that aside, this is one I would recommend to young folklore lovers. For my part, I intend to track down the only other children's book available in English from Ben-Ezer, the historical adventure, Riders on the Yarkon River. ( )

There is some tricky vocabulary in this book such as, sheikh, wadi, pilaf, halvah, dinar, Emir. Because this is an Arabian tale, it helps to review middle eastern culture before reading this tale. While the vocabulary was a little hard, it didn't take away from the story, especially because wadi was the only word that was defined directly in the tale. You can use context clues to figure out what everything else meant. For example, "the scent of pilaf, kebab, falafel, couscous, and sweet halvah filled the air" refers to all those as food. A gold dinar was their currency. The message behind this story of the wise-fool was don't cross the water until you know its depth. ( )

“Hosni the Dreamer”, a picture book based upon an old Arab tale, published by Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, New York, has been chosen to be one of the ten best illustrated books for 1997 by The New York Times Book Review. His anthology “Sleepwalkers and Other Stories, The Arab in Hebrew Literature”, was published by Lynne Rienner Publishers, Colorado.
"A shepherd for the herds of a sheikh, Hosni listens to the elders' tales of faraway places and longs to travel...After an opportunity arises for him to journey to a distant city, he spends his money on a cryptic verse from a wise man. His companions laugh and tell him he has wasted his money. In fact, the verse's wisdom saves him from tragedy...Luminous illustrations." --Booklist

Hosni is a shepherd for the sheikh. Rather than spend time with the other shepherds, Hosni listens to the elders' tales of faraway places and longs to travel. When the sheikh takes his sheep to the city, he brings along his shepherds and gives them a gold dinar. Rather than buying food or exotic items, Hosni spends his money on words of wisdom. On the way home, Hosni is ridiculed for wasting his money on words. However, those words soon save him. Well written and beautifully illustrated, this is an engaging and interesting folk tale. ( )

This story is a about an Arabian shepard who spends his days alone caring for his sheep.at night he listens to the elders talk about the big city . one day the shepard’s dream comes truethe elders were taking their camals to sell them in the city and they invited the shepard to go with them. On the way to the city the group of travelers cross a dry river bed. While in the city the shepard's only purchase was a verse from a fortune teller . the fortune teller said don’t cross the water till you know its depth. On the way back to their home when they approached the river bed it was no longer dry the other shepards and elders tried to cross it but the poor lonely shepard remembered the fortune and did not cross. The others who had not listened got swept away by the water. A girl that was to be married off was also at the river bed the shepard and her went on their way and end up falling in love and living happily ever after.

I wasn’t to impressed with this story I didn’t lke the ending on how it just kinda stoped and said they live happily ever after

class room ideas-

1) a class discussion on times when someone had given us advice and we did not take it.
2) partner up and make up our own fortunes