In a note to Iran Books News Agency, Journalist Tahereh Rahi has reviewed the book “Ajayeb Nameh” by Muhammad Ibn Mahmoud Hamedani and rewritten by Mahmoud Barabadi.

Tahere Rahi: Remember when we were kids, and elders told us stories? How old were you then? Who told you stories? By now, you are probably a parent or aunt and uncle, a teacher, or at least have spent a couple of hours with children. Stories are unique experiences that take you to the wonderland, and that is why people still like stories even when they have grown up. 

This book is the rewritten version of its original, “Aja’ib al-Makhluqat” by Muhammad Ibn Mahmoud Hamedani, author of the sixth century AH. The book is full of sweet and wonderful stories with a simple and charming language that makes everyone like it. It also has been published by Mehrak publication. 

“Ajayeb Nameh” contains 22 informative and short stories, which have been narrated by different charters, from various animals to kings and dervishes. With each story, you will travel to times and places you haven’t been there, but it feels like you actually are, and everything happens right in front of you. 

The first story is about a city named Sogdi, in the north of Greater Khorasan where there has been no rain for so long and resulted in famine. And more, for example, in the ninth story you will read about lying and how even a simple one would be revealed and change your life, and the seventeenth story is about a dog’s loyalty and its story.

Nowadays, almost everyone believes that storytelling is a good method to teach moral lessons to children, this book is one of the great ancient books that has been well translated into a simple and clear language that would amuse both children and adults.