The Conference of the Birds

Bought as a present for a small child. His mother loves it and recognises it’s something that her child will enjoy, for different reasons, at different stages of growing up which is what I’d hoped.

A common theme in the reviews of this book has been marvel at the book's beauty, from storytelling to illustration, as well as appreciation for its accessibility to all ages, children and adult. Such marvel and appreciation has been my experience as well. If this book can be summed up in one word, it is "beautiful", if in two, it is "beautiful" and "unique", if in three, it is all that and "rich". It is beautiful in many ways, of them are its its captivating storytelling and its tastefully lavish illustration. It is unique in that seldom, or at least not often enough, does an ancient tradition, in this case the Persian Sufi tradition, and the area of contemporary Western children's storytelling meet, and even more rarely do they produce such wonderful pieces of art as this. That is what this book is, a wonderfully holistic piece of art. This book is also rich in many ways. One of them is in the insight it provides, as perhaps most profoundly done in the foreword. This one page contains more reliable insight to the symbolism of birds in the Persian Sufi tradition than days at a conventional library would likely provide a curious soul with. It helps that the author or publisher asked such a well-versed and authoritative scholar to write it. In regards to the story itself, there are probably many reasons why such a story lasts about 800 years and going, and continues to be translated for civilizations as foreign and different from its origin's as the modern Western world's. For one, the profound symbolism within it subtly and effectively invites the contemplative reader to examine his or her own life's journey in contexts similar to those of the characters in the story. One finds difficulty flipping through the pages of this book without somehow relating to the scenes portrayed. Reading this story thus proves to be a moving and personal experience, at least to readers that discern between random choices for characters and scenes, on the one hand, and profound symbolism on the other. This story certainly provides the latter. In that way, this book is rich. In its method of storytelling, both verbal and visual, it is beautiful. In its rare combination of things and in its holistic approach to providing a story, it is unique. I wish for the world's children, and adults, more well-told stories and holistically produced books like this. Many thanks to the author, illustrator, and all those who have brought this gem of a story to the Western world. The divine orchestration that has lead and fueled their efforts has produced a wonderful book for all ages.

This is a nice illustrated book. But it's not the complete Conference of the birds of Attar. I mean that it tells the whole story with beautiful paintings and a few verses. but it doesn't contain all the verses of the original book.

Splendide illustrazioni

Beautifully illustrated, the wisdom of the story is universal. This islamic wisdom is exactly the spiritual education I want to pass on to my daughter. Recommand 1000%.