Iran

Materials from Iran

Equal Rights Is Our Minimum Demand

On June 12, 2005, hundreds of women gathered outside Tehran University in Tehran, Iran. These women were protesting an issue that Iranian women have battled for more than one hundred years: gender inequality. Living in a conservative Muslim culture, Iranian women are subjected to discriminatory laws that serve the male-dominated society. In the 1900s, Iranian women began protesting unjust laws and fighting for equality. For a time, under monarchs wishing to modernize, Iran became more lenient. Women began dressing as they wished, mixing socially with men, and working outside their homes. But after the Islamic Revolution of 1979, harsh punishments for moral offenses again became law. Iranian women continue to struggle against an oppressive regime, but they refuse to stop protesting. Iranian women have been punished and discriminated against by their patriarchal government, but yet they maintain their pursuit of equal rights.

Soldier Bear

Based on a real series of events that happened during World War II, Soldier Bear tells the story of an orphaned bear cub adopted by a group of Polish soldiers in Iran. The soldiers raise the bear and eventually enlist him as a soldier to ensure that he stays with the company. He travels with them from Iran to Italy, and then on to Scotland. Voytek’s mischief gets him into trouble along with way, but he also provides some unexpected encouragement for the soldiers amidst the reality of war: Voytek learns to carry bombs for the company, saves the camp from a spy, and keeps them constantly entertained with his antics.

The Stone: A Persian Legend of the Magi

A retelling of the story told to Marco Polo about the Magi of Saveh, three wise men from a town in Persia, who followed a strange star and find a special child.

Sindbad’s Secret

Sindbad the Sailor has escaped death many times and is planning to live the rest of his life on dry land. But the sea beckons, and he sets out for one final adventure. As he sails from a beautiful far-off land where people drink scented tea, a storm destroys the ship. Sindbad finds refuge on an island, but it holds little safety for him. Ivory traders make him their slave. It seems that he will live out his days in servitude. But the power of love, and his compassion for a baby elephant, give him the strength he needs for survival. His voyage offers him the answer to life’s greatest secret, and finally he can rest. Ludmila Zeman has retold these beloved adventures from the Thousand and One Nights in her gorgeous trilogy, Sindbad, Sindbad in the Land of the Giants, and Sindbad’s Secret, incorporating design details and maps that place the stories into their historical context.

Sindbad in the Land of Giants

In this stunning sequel to Sindbad: From the Tales of The Thousand and One Nights, Sindbad, now a rich sultan, recounts more of his adventures. On this voyage, Sindbad and his hapless crew mates are driven off course, and their ship is overrun by monkeys. They abandon the ship but row into more trouble, landing on an island inhabited by a man-eating giant. They are captured but devise a daring escape, and think they are almost away, when they encounter even greater obstacles. With his ingenuity and quick wits, Sindbad prevails, but there are yet more seafaring adventures in store. Sindbad earned top marks from critics and readers alike for its breath-taking art. In Sindbad in the Land of Giants, Ludmila Zeman has once again delivered an action-packed, suspenseful tale worthy of The Thousand and One Nights. From the Hardcover edition.

Sindbad

Perhaps the best known of the Tales of the Thousand and One Nights are those about Sindbad the Sailor. For centuries, people have been fascinated by the stories of a simple, sometimes confused, sailor who mistakes a giant whale for a lovely island and the egg of the Roc (a bird so huge that she can carry an elephant in her talons) for a mountain. Sindbad encounters many dangers, but he prevails in this irresistible trilogy, thanks to nothing but his own wits. Ludmila Zeman’s exciting text and lavish illustrations have made Sindbad, Sindbad in the Land of Giants, and Sindbad’s Secret an international and critical success.

Pea Boy and Other Stories from Iran

Retells folktales and fables from Iran, including the story of a mouse and a cockroach who fell in love, a foolish weaver’s apprentice, and a boy with the head of a chickpea.

 

The Earth Shook

Little Parisa-Farsi, left alone after an earthquake demolishes her home of Bam, Iran. She doesn’t despair. She does what any little girl would do. She dances. She laughs. She shares. She reveals our common humanity.