Four little girls were playing in the sand. They were also talking. Find out how simple conversation can turn into juicy gossip. In the end, everyone gets so puzzled and confused, no one remembers who said what.
Middle East
The Revenge of Ishtar
In this second volume in the Gilgamesh trilogy, Enkidu joins Gilgamesh in the quest to slay Humbaba, the monster who has attacked the city and caused great destruction, including the death of the beautiful singer, Shamat. Gilgamesh and Enkidu successfully slay the monster and in so doing, Gilgamesh attracts the attention of the goddess Ishtar. In rejecting her advances, he incurs her revenge and an attack by the Bull of Heaven. Enkidu manages to kill the bull, but is slain by Ishtar, striking at the bond between the two friends. Shattered, Gilgamesh vows he will destroy the last monster.
The Perfume of Memory
When a disgruntled Grand Vizier causes the queen and her subjects to lose their memories, a perfume-maker named Rose helps them remember with the evocative scents she creates.
Joha Makes a Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale
Joha finds a magic stick and learns that you don’t always get what you wish for.
Beautiful Yetta
Yetta, beautiful Yetta, manages to escape from the butcher’s shop. But now she is lost in Brooklyn–a strange place filled with rude rats and dangerous buses! But then, brave Yetta saves a small green bird from a sneaky cat, and his friends, the wild parrots of Brooklyn, are very grateful.
Caravan
A ten-year-old boy accompanies his father for the first time on a caravan trip through the mountains of Afghanistan to the city below where they will trade their goods at market.
Sitti’s Secrets
A young girl describes a visit to see her grandmother in a Palestinian village on the West Bank.
The Three Princes
A princess promises to marry the prince who finds the most precious treasure.
Azad’s Camel
In a big Arabian city, an orphan boy is forced to work as a camel jockey — a dangerous job he doesn’t like. But a new friendship and a magical escape into the desert are about to change his life.
Camel racing is a popular sport in the Gulf states of the Middle East, where child jockeys from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Mauritania, and Eritrea are used to ride the camels. Some impoverished families are persuaded to sell sons as young as five years old, who are taken away to be trained and often badly treated. Accidents are common, and when a little jockey falls off a racing camel, he can receive serious injuries. Qatar, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates have all banned the use of child jockeys and are returning children to their families so that they can go to school and live a normal life.
Aziz the Storyteller
Although he wants to please his father and earn money selling carpets, Aziz finds himself drawn to the storytellers in the marketplace, including one who has a special gift meant just for him.