• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

The Green Musician by Mahvash Shahegh Illustrated by Claire Ewart

ByPam

Once upon a time in the land of Persia, there lived a king named Khosrow.  He was very wealthy and his palace was ful of colorful rugs and other rich decorations. Everything the king and his guests ate was plentiful and delicious. The large palace gardens were overflowing with rare flowers, trees, and songbirds.

Isn’t that opening paragraph delicious?  Have you visualized it in your head? Here’s the cover:

The Green Musician by Mahvash Shahegh

Look at how rich and lush the colors are!  Here’s a picture book for kids of all ages.  The Green Musician is an ancient Persian (Iran) tale that’s be retold for centuries about a musician named Barbad who could play and sing beautifully and wanted to sing at the palace and live with the king.  Naturally the current palace musician doesn’t want to be replaced by young Barbad so he thwarts Barbad’s efforts.

Every page is beautifully illustrated and the tale is as sweet and gentle as the illustrations themselves. I nearly wept at the end of this book.  Readers will learn about beautiful ancient Persia and also about perseverance.

Tack this on to your Diversity Reading Challenge list. You won’t regret it.