The boy without a name

by Idries Shah

Other authorsMona Caron (Illustrator.)
Paper Book, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

398.2 S438 2007

Call number

398.2 S438 2007

Local notes

Youth

Description

A Sufi teaching tale of a boy without a name who visits a wise man and acquires both a name and a wonderful dream.

Publication

Boston : Hoopoe Books, 2007.

User reviews

LibraryThing member icedchai
Genre: This book is a good example of a folktale because it has plausible and implausible events. The main story seems to be based on some historical information, but it is not possible to get dreams from boxes.

Characterization: 5 stars

Age: Primary/Intermediate
LibraryThing member frood42
Because a wise man said he would be important and warned his parents not to name him, the boy in this story was not given a name, but called Benaam, meaning Nameless. Nameless goes on a quest to find a name and meets a young boy named Anwar, to whom he promises to give a dream if he gave him his
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name. The story is entertaining, but rather weak. Why Nameless would benefit from not having a name is not clear, and the reader cannot fully understand why Anwar would want a dream that Nameless rejects. Additionally, they boys reach the solution far too quickly, without really learning or gaining anything in the process.

The story is secondary, however, compared to the lovely full-page illustrations that capture the reader's attention. The artwork is colorful and combines realistic images that portray the Middle Eastern setting, and incorporate surreal touches. For instance, a scene showing a curtain with an intricate flower design has the flowers floating off the curtain and swirling onto the next page. The overall effect creates beautiful images that reflect the tale's slightly whimsical, somewhat fantastical tone, and compensate for the inadequacies of the narrative.

The International Children's Digital Library is an excellent site that is easy to navigate. It has a great advanced search feature that allows the reader to narrow down to his or her selection by choosing the parameters they desire. The book was easy to view, and easy to read on the computer screen, and the images and text were well-rendered, and loaded quickly, so that moving between pages did not disrupt the experience of the story. This is a bilingual picture book, with the text in English and Spanish, for young children.
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LibraryThing member JessicaC35
This book has excellent pictures that are beautifully rendered, However, the story has little to no plot, and no large conflict. Husin's promised "greatness" is never shown or explained, so the climax of the story is rather lackluster. Other than having a interesting setting and beautiful pictures,
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this picture book is not very interesting.
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LibraryThing member claudiathelibrarian
4Q- The moral of the story, the setting, and the beautiful watercolor illustrations combine to make this a quality read.
3P-It may take suggestion for this book to find its way into a reader's hands. And while this book may not be the first taken off the shelf, readers will be rewarded with a lovely
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tale.
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LibraryThing member KelseyPrentice
This book is about a baby boy whose parents get visited by a wise old man that says he will give him something great one day and that they must not give him a name. He went by "Benaam" which translates to "Nameless" and him and his friend went to the wise man one day to try to swap names. The wise
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man had a magic box filled with names and gave one to Nameless. The wise man also gave each of them a dream from a different box and so they always had good dreams after that.
Critique (Genre): This is a good example of a Folklore that comes from the Sufi culture. It was most likely passed down from generation to generation being told my oral storytelling until it was written down on paper. It is very myth-like seeing as it is hard to believe someone could have a box of names and a box of dreams to give out.
Media: Colored Pencils
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LibraryThing member MkM
Genre: Folktale
Genre Critique: This book is an excellent example of folktale through the customs and values that are seen and are relevant to this culture. The action in the book is fast paced and simple, and the conclusion comes shortly after the climax (seeking the wise man to help the boys find
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a name and dreams).
Setting Critique: The author portrays a wonderfully accurate setting through pictures and details in the writing that really engage a reader and help them to get a feel for what the culture is like within the story.
Review/Critique: I thought this book was an interesting story which didn't have a huge impact or meaning for me. It did interest me in finding out more about the culture that Husni lived in, in India.
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LibraryThing member ghimbert
This is a folktale about a boy who is not given a name at birth because the wise man told his parents not to name him for he will achieve greatness. When he does finally go to the wise man to receive his name he and his friend receive a great dream which they will have for the rest of their life.
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It was a cute book but it never develops. We never get to see what greatness the boy was supposed to achieve.
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LibraryThing member Rsantoyo13
Fairy tale, A boy is born and an old wise man came and tells his family not to name him because he was a special boy. The wise man said he was going to name him later. The years past and the boy was tired of not having a name. One day he went to look for the wise man and found him. The wise man
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took him inside his house and shows him a special box full of names. All these names came out of the box and the name Husni wen t straight to the boy.
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LibraryThing member RachelSchillreff
This book was beautiful. I read it out loud in Spanish and English to my son. The story was interesting and the diversity was very apparent. I would encourage this as a read allowed and then it could inspire stories about how children got their names or their dreams.
LibraryThing member magen.rauscher
This book is about a young boy's journey to find his name. This is a Sufi tale, rewritten for young readers. I can use this book to talk about other belief systems. I would use this book from second through third grade. I would use this book to teach my students about the importance of names.
LibraryThing member gmorgan14
Genre: Fantasy
This book tells the story of a young boy that is not born without a name but is not given a name because a wise man tells his parents to wait. As the boy grows older he decides to be active in finding his name and even trades a dream to find it. The boy talks with the wise man who is
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full of wonderful magic and learns what it feels like to be known as something unique to him. This book Would make a great multicultural example, and could be great in explaining to students why our names make us feel special!
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ISBN

9781883536947
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