Ahmad Akbarpour
(1970-Shiraz) is an Iranian well-known author mostly write for young adults and juveniles. In his stories, he deals with themes such as fear, loneliness and peace. However the most dominant characteristic of his works is their humor. Akbarpour have penned many novels for young adults. Among them are:
-Good Night Commander( 2014-Ofogh Pubs.)
-Amazing way(2012-Charkh o falak Pubs.)
– If I were a pilote( 2009-Elmi farhangi Pubs.)
-Three magical whistles(2008-Ofogh Pubs.)
Akbarbour were awarded in different Literary Prizes such as: Book of the year award, UNISEF’s selected book, IBBY Honor Diploma, Library of Munich.
Title : I Was A Deer
Written by: Ahmad Akbarpour
Illustrated by: Narges Mohammadi
Publisher: Ofoq
Publication Date: 2016
Age Group: Pre-school, primary school
ISBN: 9786003532397
Size: 23.5 cm X 16 cm
Pages:
◙ English text is available.
About the Book:
Winner of three international awards in 2009 and 2014 (First prize of Korean Illustration awards, Illustration Contest of Portugal, and Sharjeh’s Illustrated Book of the Year), I Was A Deer is the story of hunters and prey; a concept as old as first hunters and gatherers on the face of the Earth. The author tells the tale of a deer, hunted during the hunting games of a king. The illustrations masterfully depict the ups and down of life as a wild deer in the meadows. Nowadays, there are many disputes over the pouching of wild animals, and this story can bring about the right discourse for children, for it is narrated from the point of view of a wounded deer. In I Was A Deer, after we read and see the beautiful life of wild deer, there comes the king and his companions, who with
their bows and arrows, hunt down the animal just for the fun of it. However, the king himself becomes the victim of his hunting, when he’s thrown down from her horse, whose rein is tangled in the branches of a tree. The deer, lost and in pain, tries to free the horse, and that’s when the king’s daughter comes along. She takes the wounded deer to the palace and look after it, but the poor creature dies. This perhaps can be the most touching part of the story, for the deer is still talking to the readers, mentioning that he misses his family and friends: I am a deer, but a dead deer, But I still long for my kind to wander around in the meadows.
Title : The Giant and the Bicycle
Author: Ahmad Akbarpour
Illustrator: RaashinKheyrieh
Publisher: Ofoq Pubs.
No. of Pages: 28
Age Group:8+
Size:21×27
ISBN: 978-964-369-550-7
◙ Sample English text is available.
About the Books:
A kind father wants to tell her little daughter, Dorsa, a bedtime story. He will tell the story, while Dorsa’s mother will draw the pictures of it. But Dorsa wants to participate in the storytelling too. So she constantly interrupts her father and tries to change some parts of it as she wishes the events to happen. The story is about a small boy, who plans to steal a bicycle from a shop. He steals the bicycle when the shop is crowded but then, he is trapped all the other bicycles’ falling down. The small boy tries to escape. Dorsa immediately calls the police and finally the boy is arrested and taken to prison. Dorsa feels sorry for the boy, when she realizes that she was the one who called the police, and asks her parents to help the boy. It is dark and they have to be very careful, as they don’t want to wake up the prison guards. They have to run away when suddenly a wild wind blows at the doors and all the night guards wake up. Finally the prison guards lose track of Dorsa and the little boy in the jungle. After a short while, a little giant appears and takes her and the boy to his house. Both children are terribly scared, but the baby giant seems friendly and shows the pictures of all the bicycles he has drawn on one of his room’s wall. When the baby giant asks the boy’s name, Dorsa is forced to call him Sina; her own brother’s name. She never got a chance to ask the boy’s name. But suddenly the baby giant decides to eat them all. How can Dorsa possibly change the story ending and rescue their lives? Although the baby giant and Sina become friends, Dorsastill wants to make sure everything is all right. She makes her best to persuade her mother and father to help Sina in the story they are writing and drawing. When her father promises to buy a bicycle for Dorsa, she becomes excited and…
Title : Human’s Garden
Writer: Ahmad Akbarpour
Illustrator: Fatemeh Khosravian
Number of pages: 36 pages
ISBN: 9786004771231
About the Book:
This book is a story about hunting, and separating animals from their natural habitats and their real home. In this story, as a Leopard cub called Pangul disappears and eventually is found in the zoo, the animals of the forest try to save him, and the world order reverses and animals put humans in the cage, and the other animals go to watch the people in the cage and eventually with the help of the author, who has been caged, they return the pangul and he writes and tells stories for the forest animals.