The Storyteller of Damascus Book Review

Book Review
The Storyteller of Damascus
Written by Rafik Schami
Illustrated by Peter Knorr
Translated by Hiltrud Schulz and Michel Moushabeck
US Publication: December 5, 2018

Why we chose this book: 
I try to keep my eye out for German books appearing in our market and came across this before its publication date. It looked a bit advanced for T, and when I told him about it, he wasn't super keen. I was disappointed. However, Crocodile Books included a review copy for our consideration with a book we had requested. I was thrilled, and T has done a 180 now that he's read it and seen the pictures.

Mom's Review

You could read this as a fairy tale, as a critique of consumerism, or as both. It is beautifully narrated and illustrated. The frame is that of a childhood recollection: the narrator remembers a storyteller who visited his or her alley every month, offering free stories and a chance to view the illustrations in a wonder chest for only one piaster (a few cents). The children are always entranced by his tales and enchanted by the images that scroll through the chest. Over time, however, the images become worn, and the storyteller replaces them with images from advertisements and magazines, which change and deform his stories. The children's love turns to disdain until the storyteller returns a few years later, with an empty chest and only his voice. When the children peer into the dark chest and listen to the story, they can see the original images in their minds' eyes and are enchanted once again. Once the bizarre assemblage of images is gone, the children's imaginations blossom and they rediscover the magic of narrative.

The fairytale within is no less entertaining than the frame. A poor young shepherd, Sami, falls in love with a rich farmer's daughter, Leyla. The two care only for each other, but the father intends for her to wed a rich, old sheikh. He sets obstacle after obstacle in Sami's path, from milking a lion to procuring 300 camels as dowry, but the shepherd overcomes them all. After several adventures, the two wed, to their own joy and to that of the entire village.

The frame narrative is set in Damascus; we can infer that the fairy tale is set in Syria as well. T made a comment to me later one evening after we had read it a couple of times earlier in the day. He told me that it reminded him of Aladdin. I asked him why, assuming that it had something to do with the storyline about a poor young man trying to marry a rich young lady, or perhaps that Knorr and the Disney team both draw the hero in the same style of pants. T hadn't picked up on either of those similarities, he told me. Instead, he explained that it was because the artists drew Sami and Aladdin with the same color skin. We talked about where each story was set, and how skin tone can vary by geographical region. It was interesting to me to see how a four-year old picked up on race in this book in particular. We read a pretty diverse cast of characters, so I'm not sure why this one stood out to him. It certainly opened the door to an easy conversation about race and geography. Do your kiddos react to race in their books? What strikes them?

Son's Review
"My favorite page is the one with the demon!"

(Age: 4)


Son: Why are you crying?

Mom: I'm crying because he doesn't have the chest anymore, but, well, are the children looking at the pictures in the chest or in their mind?

Son: In their mind. Dream movies are pictures in your mind with guys talking in the pictures.

Mom: Look at the beginning. See how how the children look through the little windows to see the pictures? But what happened? Did the children like the story anymore?

Son: Replace [the pictures]. No.

Mom: Why do you think the children liked no pictures better than the advertisement pictures?

Son: Because it is magic.

Mom: Is it really magic or did it just feel like magic?

Son: It just felt like magic.

Mom: What happened when he used no pictures? How did the children feel?

Son: Excited!

Mom: That's right. They had missed him. Do you think they remembered the original pictures?...How did the book make you feel?

Son: Yeah. A little bit sad because he [Sami] didn't get a donkey or a white horse anymore and his motorcycle got stolen. And why I felt happy is because he got to marry her.

Mom: Did you like the story with Sami and Leyla or the story with Sami and Colgate better?

Son: This one! [points to Sami and Leyla]

Mom: Would you want to see a picture story like this? Does it remind you of any toy you have?

Son: Yeah...My microscope!
(His microscope talks about what each slide shows.)

Son: Let's read it again!

Mom: Can you tell me what you liked so much?

Son: That it had two stories with Sami in it. Now let's read.

Mom: Let's, but could I ask you another question? If the storyteller came down our street, what would you do?

Son: I'd go and say, "Hi, my name's T. What's your name?"

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