The Old Woman and the Eagle / СТАРА ЖІНКА ТА ОРЕЛ

About the Book

An old woman encounters an eagle for the first time. Perplexed by its appearance, she changes it to suit her own ideas of what a bird should look like - a common pattern of human thought: altering the unfamiliar to make it acceptable.

Book Synopsis

(Bilingual English-Ukrainian 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.

(Двомовне англо-українське видання) У цій кумедній історії стара жінка вперше зустрічає орла. Збентежена його незнайомим виглядом, вона вирішує змінити його, щоб він відповідав її власним уявленням про птахів. Її зусилля відображають загальну модель людської поведінки змінювати незнайоме, щоб зробити його зрозумілим. Цю казку спеціально для дітей презентує афганський письменник і педагог Ідріс Шах, який більше 30 років збирав історії суфійського фольклору з усних і письмових джерел. Оповідання з давніх часів у Центральній Азії та на Близькому Сході використовуються для того, щоб допомогти людям різного віку розвивати гнучкість розуму та проникливість.

Review Quotes

"... 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.)

"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.)

"Our experiences show that, while reading Idries Shah's stories can help children with reading and writing, the stories can also help them transcend fixed patterns of emotion and behaviour which may be getting in the way of learning and emotional well-being too. ... We've found that this strategy can be particularly powerful, especially when change may be resistant to appeals to reason alone. By flying under the radar of emotion and analytical thinking, the patterns contained within a story can shift children's perspective, to let them 'own' the meaning for themselves." - Ezra Hewing, Head of Education at the mental-health charity Suffolk Mind in Suffolk, U.K.; and Kashfi Khan, who teaches English as an additional language at Hounslow Town Primary School in London