Neem the Half-Boy

(Bilingual English-Arabic edition) Wanting badly to have a son, the Queen of Hich-Hich consults Arif the Wise Man on the matter. But because she fails to follow his precise instructions, she gives birth to a half-boy, whom she calls Neem. That Neem is able to make himself complete by an act of cleverness, negotiation and compromise teaches children much more than the expected, usual lesson of bravery. This enchanting tale, complete with fairies and a fire-breathing dragon, is marvelously and magically illustrated by Midori Mori and Robert Revels. Neem the Half-Boy is one of an illustrated series of Sufi teaching stories from the Middle East and Central Asia that were collected and adapted for children by Idries Shah, and that have captivated hearts and minds for more than a thousand years. The stories are designed to help children learn to examine their assumptions and to think for themselves.

Idries Shah spent much of his life collecting and publishing Sufi classical narratives and teaching stories from oral and written sources in the Middle East and Central Asia. The tales he retold especially for children are published by Hoopoe Books in beautifully illustrated editions and have been widely commended - by Western educators and psychologists, the U.S. Library of Congress, National Public Radio and other media - for their unique ability to foster social-emotional development, thinking skills and perception in children and adults alike. Told for centuries, these stories express universal themes from the cultures that produced them, showing how much we have in common and can learn from each other. As noted by reviewers, such stories are more than just entertaining; familiarity with them provokes flexibility of thought, since each one contains levels of meaning that unfold in accordance with an individual's experience and understanding.