A Thousand Years of the Persian Book
Storytelling and Children’s Literature

Storytelling traditions date back to ancient times in the Persian-speaking world, and are often passed orally from one generation to the next. The stories that are now known as “A Thousand and One Nights” are tales from China, India, Persia, and Arab lands that were first recorded in Arabic in Baghdad during the Middle Ages. These stories were so popular that in the Qajar Era in Iran they were compiled and translated into Persian verse under the title Hizar Dastan (A Thousand Stories). The Qajar monarch Nasir al-Dīn Shah commissioned a lavishly illustrated six-volume manuscript, which has been called the last outstanding example of the traditional art of the Persian book. This book, translated into Persian verse by Saif al-Shu‘ara and illustrated by the artist Javad ʽAli-Khân is the only lithographic edition of the title. The open page illustrates the adventures of Jahanshah, whose escapades are apart of the story of Buluqiya and the Queen of Serpents.

The writings of ‘Ubayd Zākānī (ca. 1300–1371), a Persian poet and satirist from Qazvin, use a provocative and frank tone and have been enjoyed for centuries. In the twentieth century some of his works, such as Mush va Gurbah (Mouse and Cat) and Risalah-yi Dilgusha (Joyous Treatise), have been adapted as highly illustrated children’s books. The book on display is a beautifully illustrated Tajik-Persian version of the Joyous Treatise, which contains moral lessons for children and young adults.

In Afghanistan today a number of artists and storytellers have been producing a wide range of children’s books and film animation for young people. From Idris Shah, whose works have been translated into English in the United States, to more recent writers such as Parvīn Pizhvāk, who has written a number of short stories and booklets in Persian for children, the profile of children’s literature from Afghanistan is rising. Displayed here is one of Pizhvāk’s books Mājarāʹhā-yi ārash (The Adventures of Arash).

Starting in the 1960s, with official support from the government and backing of the Empress Farah Pahlavi, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Youth began an active program of producing high-quality children’s books, music, and animated films in Iran. Many notable, award-winning artists, illustrators, and authors over the decades have contributed to this effort. Today, in the Islamic Republic of Iran the work of the Institute continues to flourish, and a number of creative books like the pop-up book on display are produced for Iranian youth.

As large numbers of Iranians have left the country to live throughout the world, diaspora Iranian communities have developed new ways to tell their stories to both Persian-speaking and global audiences. Marjane Satrapi (b. 1969), an award-winning French-Iranian expatriate, captured her experiences of traveling between Iran and Europe in her graphic novel Persepolis (Persian City)—her story of growing up during times of turmoil in Iran. The novel was such a success that it was adapted into an animated feature film of the same name. Her work has inspired a number of Persian-speaking authors and artists to work in the graphic novel format.

Iranian children’s books draw upon the rich body of stories that exist in the Persian epic, the Shahnameh. The Shahnameh stories, while entertaining, are also lessons in human relations and moral behavior. The book on display belongs to a series of Shahnameh tales illustrated in a stylized manner by artist Nur al-Din Zarrin Kilk. The page on display shows the mythic bird Simorgh flying down to rescue the little albino prince Zal from danger.

Another modern way in which Shahnameh stories have been presented is through theatrical performances. Some artists have taken the tone and the rhythm of the verses of poetry and adapted it to musical notes, producing dance and ballet repertoires to Shahnameh, and performed in London, was named after the benevolent bird of the tales, the mythic Simorgh. In addition to this ballet, the renowned Armenian-Iranian composer Loris Tjeknavorian has created a number of works inspired by the Shahnameh in the last four decades.

As Persian-speaking communities have grown in the United States, those communities have sought better ways to pass on their heritage to their youth and to share their culture with the American public. In 2013 this lavishly illustrated English-language publication of the Shahnameh introduced American and diaspora youth to its mythic and epic stories and characters. The computer graphic illustrations are composites of images taken from a thousand years of Persian illustrated manuscripts. This publication is testament to how the Shahnameh continues to resonate with Persian readers today and connects them to their past.