April 2005
ACEE and Hoopoe Books: A Storybook Collaboration
Hoopoe Books is an imprint started in 1998 by the nonprofit Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge to publish traditional children's stories from Afghanistan, collected by Afghan author Idries Shah. To date there are nine titles in the Hoopoe series, all of them richly illustrated and most of them aimed at ages 3–8. Told for centuries throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, these stories have universal themes such as overcoming difficulties, building self-esteem and finding peaceful solutions. Hoopoe's books have been enthusiastically reviewed by the major educational media in the U.S. and widely commended for their ability to help develop higher thinking skills. They also provide a positive representation of an important but little-understood culture, and teach us what we have in common and what we can learn from each other.
Dayo Esho, a two year ACEE member, has used these books with the kindergarten through second grade children she tutors and in an after school Book Club she teaches in an after-school enrichment class at Walnut Creek Elementary School. Dayo loves the Idries Shah stories and has seen kindergarten through fourth grade students respond enthusiastically to them. Dayo's book club focuses on folktales and fairytales. The vision behind the book club/creative writing class is to improve students' skills in the following areas: independent reading, group discussion, original writing and performance through the use of folktales. Each week the students read a folktale such as Neem the Half-Boy, The Boy Without a Name by Shah, and various other stories like Adelita and The Three Little Javelinas. Then there is a discussion focusing on what makes this story a folktale; what type of tale it is—animal, fairy or tall; and finally, the parts of the story are discussed by either writing about or discussing orally aspects of the stories' characterization, setting, problem or resolution. Dayo explains why she chose to include the Shah books, "In the past the students have been exposed mainly to western folktales and I wanted to introduce tales from another part of the world. When they read the books, they discuss the setting—where it takes place, where Afghanistan is geographically and the climate and culture. So far, the kids love the books because the illustrations are phenomenal and the stories are completely 'out of this world' and magical—they allow them to really stretch their imaginations and think beyond the world in which they live." Dayo and her class will create a Readers' Theater based on two folktales they have read—The Three Little Pigs and Idries Shah's Neem the Half Boy. They will perform their work at a local Starbucks store in May as part of a grant from the Starbucks Foundation Power of Literacy program.
In 2000, ISHK launched a program called "Share Literacy" to promote reading and thinking skills in disadvantaged children by supplying them with Hoopoe books and related materials through established literacy partner programs nationwide, thanks to tax-deductible donations that offset production and shipping costs. To date more than 100,000 children have received books. ISHK and the Share Literacy chapter in Austin hope to secure the funding to provide at least one of the Idries Shah books for each child in Dayo's class, and to hopefully expand the book donation program in the future to reach more children served by AmeriCorps and the 21st Century Community Learning Center. For more information on Hoopoe Books visit their website.