A tiny collection of Iraqi folktales adapted by an author who obviously loved her time in Iraq.

Award-winning novelist Elizabeth Laird has gathered together the very best Iraqi stories during her time in the Middle East...Meticulously researched and elegantly retold, the stories reveal the true, traditional heart of Iraq, far removed from today's news headlines.

While Laird's love for Iraq and travelling the world is made clear in her introduction to A Fistful of Pearls, I couldn't help but sense her adaptations were heavily anglicized. For example, in "Zirak and the Ring-Dove," Zirak says to Ring-Dove, "Ain't no one can hold a candle to you, girl, and that's my last word on the subject." Word choices like that jarred me out of more than one story. If not for the illustrations by Shelley Fowles, character names, and a few Middle Eastern specific references (Caliph, jinn), I would not have know these tales were from Iraq.

Best used as a brief introduction to Iraqi folklore. If you're seeking more connectedness to original stories the peoples of the Middle East have shared for centuries, do what I'm doing, seek out the source material Laird used for A Fistful of Pearls.

3 stars

Contents:

"Lazy Ahmed" - A clever wife saves the day. I couldn't help noting, though, that lying and cheating are rewarded.

"Zirak and the Ring-Dove" - A tale of friendship and self-sacrifice.

"The Pots that had Babies" - It never pays to be stingy.

"The Moon Pool" - A clever hare saves her people and teaches the bullies a lesson.

"The Suit of Stone" - An arrogant tailor is saved by a clever daughter.

"A Fistful of Pearls" - A young girl and a young prince (son of the Sultan of the Jinns) fall in love. Reminded me of Beauty and the Beast tales.

"The Sign of the Tassel" - A clever wife devises a way to calm her hot-tempered husband.

"A Coat for a King" - A trickster tale involving a wolf and a lion.

"I Want my Son!" - Not really sure about the point of this one. Kindness leads to greater rewards?

Laird's sources as listed in the Acknowledgments:

Tales From the Arab Tribes: The Oral Traditions Among the Great Arab Tribes of Southern Iraq, C.G. Campbell, 1949

Folktales from the City of the Golden Domes, Sarah Powell Jamali, 1965

Folktales of Iraq, E.S. Stevens, 1931

Arab Folktales, Inea Bushnaq, 1986

The Fables Of Kalilah And Dimnah, (trans) Saleh Sa'adeh Jallad, 2002 ( )

I really enjoyed this chapter book for a few reasons. First, I liked that each tale taught a good lesson and encouraged the reader to broaden their perspectives. For example, one of the tales titled, "The Pots that Had Babies" had a central theme of excessive greed. This tale showed that when you are too greedy and only do favors when they are beneficial to yourself, you will not form good relationships, as no one wants to be around someone that is always so greedy. It also showed that we should always be thankful for what we have. I also liked the illustrations. Although this was a chapter book, and the illustrations were very limited, they were helpful for the understanding of the story. In the first tale titled, "Lazy Ahmed" the illustration showed exactly what Ahmed was doing and even what he was thinking (by his facial expression) as he was pretending to write charms and be a magician. Lastly, I liked the multicultural aspect of the stories. This book is a collection of tales from Iraq. Each tale gives insight to culture in Iraq. For example, in the tale, "A Fistful of Pearls", the father goes into the market to buy pearls, and then goes to the palace to meet the prince. This gives some cultural background because here in the US, one would normally go to the jewelry store for pearls, and there are not many palaces here, because royalty isn't an institution. Overall, this was a great book and I loved the light, fun and insightful tales included.

The third entry in British publisher Frances Lincoln's new series of international folktale collections for young readers (following upon Ghaddar the Ghoul and Other Palestinian Stories and The Prince Who Thought He was a Rooster and Other Jewish Stories), this slender volume includes nine tales from Iraq. Here the reader will encounter:

Lazy Ahmed, in which a lazy man with a clever wife (what else is new?) wins his fortune by pretending to be a magician...

Zirak and the Ring-Dove, in which Zirak the rat helps to free his friend the Ring-Dove, learning an important lesson about loyalty in the process...

The Pots That Had Babies, in which an old miser is taught to share his blessings by a clever neighbor...

The Moon Pool, in which the powerful elephant king learns that there are forces even stronger than he, and that it would be wise to show kindness to the small and weak...

The Suit of Stone, in which a boastful tailor almost loses his head, but is saved by his clever young daughter...

A Fistful of Pearls, in which a beautiful young girl saves the life of her Jinn prince...

The Sign of the Tassel, in which a clever wife discovers a way to help her husband control his terrible temper...

A Coat for the King, in which the wolf tricks the lion..

And I Want My Son!, in which a mother and daughter win a husband for the daughter in a most unexpected way...

This was an enjoyable collection of tales, albeit quite brief, and should entertain young readers who like animal fables and tales of clever girls. I did find myself wondering a bit, at the preponderance of female heroines, as my reading of adult Arab folklore has revealed just as many tales of foolish and/or malicious women. I am forced to conclude that Laird either wanted to present a more positive image to young readers, or that she was guided by her own unconscious preferences. However that may be, her collection will be most welcome to children's librarians, who have no doubt received requests from curious young readers, interested in learning more about Iraq, a country of which they have heard so much. ( )