TEHRAN – A collection of stories from bestselling Iranian children’s writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi, the author of the acclaimed series “Good Stories for Good Children”, has recently been published in Italian.

“Thirty Tales From the Treasure Chest of Ancient Persian Literature” (“Trenta Racconti Dallo Scrigno Della Letteratura Persiana Antica”) has been published by Italian company Il Cerchio in collaboration with the Iranian Culture Center in Rome, the center announced in a press release published on Monday.

The thirty stories selected from the series “Good Stories for Good Children” has been rendered into Italian by a team of translators under the supervision of Bianca Maria Filippini of the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies at the University of Naples L’Orientale.

Elena Scarinci, Federica Ponzo, Carolina Cortoneo, Melissa Fedi and Letizia Pafumi are members of the team.

“Good Stories for Good Children” composed of eight books won a UNESCO prize in 1966 and was selected as Iran’s best book of the year in 1967.

The stories in the collection have been authored based on the great works of Persian literature such as the Gulistan (The Rose Garden), Masnavi-ye Manavi, Marzban-Nameh, Sinbadnameh, and some stories from the Holy Quran and the life of the Prophet Muhammad (S) and his Household (AS).

Azar Yazdi planned to write other volumes for the series, however, his plan remained unfulfilled due to his death in 2009 when he was at 88.

He was also the author of “The Naughty Cat,” “The Playful Cat,” “Simple Stories,” “Poetry of Sugar and Honey” and “Masnavi of Good Children.”

“Encouragement is the main factor that makes a person begin a task and continue it. I had no one encouraging me, and my parents taunted me about writing childlike stories,” Azar Yazdi once said during a ceremony held by the Iranian Luminaries Association in February 2007 to honor him for his lifetime achievements.

“When I was 35 years old I left Yazd (his homeland) and afterward began reading ‘Kalilah and Dimnah’, which is very difficult. However, I found it very beautiful and subsequently decided to write for children. I sought neither fame nor money, I only wanted to do a good job. So I wrote ‘Good Stories for Good Children’,” he said during the ceremony.

Previously his book “Adam” had been chosen as Iran’s best book of the year in 1968.

Photo: Cover of the book “Trenta Racconti Dallo Scrigno Della Letteratura Persiana Antica” containing the Italian translation of stories by Iranian children’s writer Mehdi Azar Yazdi. 

MMS/YAW