Rumi: Persian Poet, Whirling Dervish

It is, I fear, a tall order to expect a child of the recommended eight years or not much older to tackle author-illustrator Demi's RUMI: WHIRLING DERVISH (2009). In 31 pages this attractively and lushly illustrated biography for youngsters presents the life and legacy of Jalaluddin "Rumi" (1207-1273). His bones lie at Konya in modern day western Turkey. *** My wife and I, who in the 1960s in Kabul, Afghanistan, began reading Rumi in Persian, have been working into the book RUMI: WHIRLING DERVISH with two visiting granddaughters eight and 11-years old. The elder girl decided, for her first viewing, simply to thumb through the pictures without reading text at all and thereby decipher their story. This she did very well, calling, however, the depicted 13th Century Persian characters "Chinese" from their looks. With adult help she then read aloud selected English translations of Rumi's verses. She especially liked the one about angels (p. 15) but found some others rough going. *** Like me, our older granddaughter wished for a second map to supplement page 2's "Rumi's World", with its four seas bounding Rumi's World on the north (Mediterranean, Black, Caspian and Aral) and to the south Red Sea, Persian Glf and Arabian Sea. Knowing virtually nothing previously about that part of the world, our 11-year old granddaughter derived little help from the author Demi's blue and gold map. *** The written text is pitched to young children, and both our granddaughters could read and follow it easily -- except for the 13th Century Arabic names. We, of course, filled in gaps. I don't think the girls will ever forget that the word "din" is Arabic for "faith." Devout young Catholics both, they fell into easy sympathy with Rumi's notion of a God who is everywhere, always near them, both loving them and worthy of love and honor by them. Our girls were also attracted by Rumi's use of slow spinning and dancing as a help to find God in prayer. They enjoyed their grandmother's stories of a visit two years ago to Turkey and to Rumi's old hometown of Konya (Iconium in New Testament days) where "Gran" and an aunt of theirs observed re-enactors of Rumi's famous "whirling dervishes. *** If parents or adult family members are willing to take time to help youngsters, then the latter can learn a fair amount about history, painting, dance and religion from RUMI: WHIRLING DERVISH. But absorbing all dimensions of the little book will not be a romp and may not prove very entertaining. I suspect that young teens will the readers to profit most. -OOO-