The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World by Shahrukh Husain and illustrated by Micha Archer (Barefoot Books, 2011) tells the fables of Mulla Nasruddin, a fabulist I was unfamiliar with. Mulla, who is called a “wise fool,” comes from the Arabian Middle East and reaches in traditions to as far as Greece, parts of Russia, and even China. I loved the stories in this collection, and I’m amazed I hadn’t heard of the storyteller before.
Using his cunning, Mulla is able to wisely judge between a shopkeeper and a beggar, for example. Sometimes he does seem like a fool in his responses, but really, his comments show cleverness. In one story, he is fishing and a man calls from the other bank of the river asking how he can cross. “You’re already on the other side of the river,” Mulla responds. The Mulla’s clever and sometimes not so clever responses are funny to read, and I greatly enjoyed the book.
The text is dense for each page, so it is not a read-aloud picture book for young children. Nevertheless, the illustrations that are on each page are wonderful collages of architectural designs and people from the many regions in which the Mulla’s tales have traditionally be popular, and the illustrator use tissue papers and fabric, colors, and cut papers to give the variety of traditions a life of their own. A wonderfully executed volume of fables!
