#778 of 1001 · September 17, 2022

Here is a striking adaptation of twelfth-century Sufi Persian poet Farid al-Din Attar’s The Conference of the Birds, retold by Alexis York Lumbard and illustrated by Demi. A flock of birds travels for many long miles to meet Simorgh the Wise, a mythological creature described as a king by an earnest hoopoe. Though some of the birds express doubt and wish to turn back, the hoopoe reassures them and urges them ever onward, before finally revealing that Simorgh is not a physical being but a metaphor for diving presence. York’s eloquent text, embracing the mystical Sufi tradition, uses prose for the main narrative and verse for the wise words of the hoopoe. Demi’s mixed-media art provides rich, saturated hues with shimmering, gilded accents. #conference #birds #bird #fly #flying #journey #wise #wisdom #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbooks #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks