The Wisdom of Ahmad Shah

(Bilingual English-Pashto edition) Some 250 years ago, the Great King Ahmad Shah Durrani ruled Afghanistan and, from there, a magnificent empire extending from eastern Iran to northern India, and from the Amu Darya River to the Indian Ocean. Known to his people as Ahmad Shah Baba (Ahmad Shah, our father), the beloved king was an outstanding general and a just and wise ruler. But he was vexed with all kinds of problems that threatened his kingdom, and he realized he needed to find someone with the right qualities to help him. The big question was how to find such a person. Among other things, this story provides a framework through which young readers can consider and discuss the qualities one needs in order to live a useful and happy life. This intriguing legend is retold for young people by the Afghan storyteller and teacher Palwasha Bazger Salam, and is beautifully illustrated by artist Natasha Delmar. Additional pages include a biography of Ahmad Shah, a map of the Durrani Empire and suggested discussion points.

Palwasha Bazger Salam holds degrees in early childhood education from Kabul University in Afghanistan and from the University of Las Vegas in Nevada, where she currently lives and teaches. As Director of Teacher Education in Kabul for Hoopoe Books' Books for Afghanistan program, she helped develop the program's Afghan curriculum, trained the Afghan teacher-training staff and translated Hoopoe's books into Dari and Pashto. Ms. Salam comes from a family of storytellers and has continued that tradition in her retelling of two Hoopoe titles: The Wisdom of Ahmad Shah and The Stranger's Farewell. Palwasha Bazger Salam heeft een onderwijsdiploma voor jonge kinderen van de Kabul Universiteit in Afghanistan en de Universiteit van Las Vegas in Nevada, waar ze momenteel woont en les geeft. Als directeur van de lerarenopleiding in Kabul van het Hoopoe Books' Books for Afghanistan programma, hielp zij bij de ontwikkeling van het Afghaanse curriculum van het programma, trainde de Afghaanse lerarenopleiding en vertaalde Hoopoe's boeken in Dari en Pashto. Mevrouw Salam komt uit een familie van verhalenvertellers en heeft die traditie voortgezet in haar hervertelling van twee Hoopoe-titels: De wijsheid van Ahmad Shah en Het afscheid van de vreemdeling.