TEHRAN – Turkish publisher Nar Cocuk has acquired copyrights to the Persian children’s books “Bright Heart of the Scarecrow” and “The Rabbits Fly”.

The books will be translated and published based on an agreement with the Pol Literary and Translation Agency, a Tehran-based institution that translates Iranian books and presents Persian-language publications around the world, the agency announced last week.

Written by Jamal Akrami, “Bright Heart of the Scarecrow” tells the story of a scarecrow that wants to travel across the world to see its attractions along with children.

The Turkish edition will come out with its original illustrations done by Afsaneh Sanei.

Akrami is the author of dozens of children’s books, including “The Boy Who Looked out”, “Little Ilia”, “The Sole and the Sea”, “Malik Shamran”, “The Stranger and the Sea”, “Zarbal” and “Children of the Moon”, a number of which have been translated into English, Spanish, Korean, Swedish, Turkish and several other languages.

“The Rabbits Fly” is about a rabbit that walks and runs in the jungle and notices what happens in it all around. However, the rabbits can also fly high above the jungle to help other animals when they are in need.

Hamidreza Shahabadi is the author of the book, which aims to teach children about kindness, friendship, carefulness and learning skills. The book has been illustrated by Mahdieh Qasemi.

Shahabadi is the author of “A Smiling Banana”, which was selected by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) for its 2021 Collection for Young People with Disabilities.

His credits also include “No One Dares to Do That”, “Goethe Street Café”, “When Moji Was Lost” and “Vertical Cemetery”.

He has been nominated for the 2023 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA) by Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults (IIDCY-Kanoon).

Nar Cocuk, a major Turkish publishing house for children’s books, has previously published a Turkish translation of the Tehran-based French writer and illustrator Claire Jobert’s collection “A Fiction with Quranic Concepts”.

Safekeeping, truthfulness, donation and several other Quranic concepts have been introduced through stories to children in this collection.

The collection includes “The Secret of the Centipede”, “Say So”, “Grumpy Hippo”, “Meatball Competition”, “Peace Soup”, “Deposited Cake”, “What’s up?” and “Red Apple”.

Over the past few years, a number of Turkish publishers have shown an interest in works by Iranian writers, especially those who are active in children’s literature. 

Muhenna, a publishing house for young adults in Istanbul, has released a Turkish translation of Iranian writer Mohammad Mirkiani’s book “Our Story Becomes a Fairy Tale” under the title of “Hikayemiz Masal Oldu”.

Zengin, another Turkish publisher, released “The Rose on the Rug” (“Halidaki Çiçek”) and “Migration of Ruzbeh” (“Ruzbenin Göçü”) in 2021.

Photo: A combination photo shows the front covers of the Persian editions of the Persian children’s books “Bright Heart of the Scarecrow” and “The Rabbits Fly”.

MMS/YAW