The Parrot and the Merchant by Marjan Vafaian translated by Azita Rassi

Mah Jahan was a merchant. She collected beautiful things to sell but she also collected birds.

"She kept them in cages or in chains so they couldn't fly away and leave her."

Her favourite bird was a colourful talking parrot from India. Setting off to trade in India, Mah Jahan asked her parrot:

"Tell me what I can bring you to make you happy."

Do you know what will make this parrot happy? 

Here are all her goods loaded onto her camels:

Just as she was about to head back home, Mah Jahan remembered to ask the wild parrots for advice - what will make her parrot at home happy? These parrots cannot talk of course and sadly one dies after hearing the question. On her return, Mah Jahan tells her parrot she has no answer to the question of happiness and that one of the wild parrots had dropped dead. 

"Mah Jahan's parrot said nothing, but after a moment it too suddenly went still, and it dropped to the floor of the cage."

Can you guess what happens when Mah Jahan opens the cage and gently lifts out her precious parrot. YES, it is a trick, and the parrot flies off to freedom (and back to India).

This book has the most wonderful art and a very satisfying story. Be quick - this book in hardcover is available now for a really good price. Since it was published in 2017, I am sure it will soon be out of print. I highly recommend adding this one to your library collection - the art is scrumptious. Or look for the paperback edition [9781910328255]. 

Publisher (Tiny Owl) blurb: This exquisitely illustrated story is an enchanting fable exploring how hard it is to give something you love freedom. The merchant Mah Jahan loves to keep colourful birds in cages, especially a parrot who can talk to her. But when the parrot asks her to bring something back from her trading trip to India, Mah Jahan learns a valuable lesson about how to treat the things and people you love.

This old Rumi tale is adapted by making the merchant a woman but is not otherwise significantly modernized. Iranian illustrator Vafaeian’s ornamented, often surreal illustrations depict Mah Jahan in enormous, colorful skirts and frequently surrounded by comparatively tiny servants. The parrot’s cage is likewise stylized, an ornamented circle that contains the unhappy captive. ...  This 900-year-old story has not lost its classic feel. Kirkus

Read about Marjan Vafaian here.

Try to find some other books about the thirteenth century poet and philosopher Rumi.

Read more about this book here.

Read more about this book here.

This story might remind you of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen.

I Feel a Foot! by Maranke Rinck and Martijn van der Linden

Turtle, Bat, Octopus, Bird and Goat are confronted with a huge creature. Each describe this monster from their own point of view. Turtle can feel a foot "just like my foot, but super big". Bat can feel a wing "just like my wing, but super big." Octopus is sure she is touching a tentacle, but extra super big. Birds find an extra superduper big beak and goat is sure the creature has a goatee which is "fantastically, amazingly extra superduper big."

What is the creature? Can you guess? What a shame I didn't discover this book last year. It links so perfectly with the 2020 CBCA slogan - Curious Creatures Wild Minds. I feel a foot was published in 2008 but an English translation in paperback was published in 2019. I was excited to read the publisher has plans to produce this book in a tactile format for blind children.

In this retelling of the familiar Sufi tale, a group of small animals meets a big new friend, one body part at a time. Kirkus Star review

I feel a foot was originally published in The Netherlands with the title Ik voel een voet! Take a look here at other books illustrated by Martijn van der Linden. Maranke Rinck is his wife. This is a book with wonderful illustrations which will inspire your school art teacher.

I would link I Feel a Foot with these:

Little Nelly's Big Book