Bahar, the Lucky

by Rashin Kheiriyeh

Bahar, who sells rugs at the local bazaar, needs to earn more money to help her family. She turns to fortune telling with surprising results.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Cultural, Family

32 pages, Hardcover

Published April 30, 2020

About the author

Rashin Kheiriyeh was born in Khorramshahr, Iran. She received a PhD in illustration and an MFA in graphic design from Alzahra University in Tehran. She has published over eighty books in countries around the world and created illustrations for The New York Times. Rashin was named a 2017 Maurice Sendak Fellow and was the winner of the New Horizon Award at the Bologna Book Fair. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and lives in Washington, DC.

Reviews

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art and story just don't work well together. The bright backgrounds are jarring and distracting, and damage the rhythm of the tale. The language doesn't flow well--it is meant to have the majesty of a tale from the Arabian Nights, I think, but it feels stilted.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed from an ARC.

Bahar is, indeed, very lucky. One day, she falls in the public bath that had been reserved for the fortune teller's wife. As she skedaddles away, she surmises it is easier to be a fortune teller than to make carpets. She tries her hand at this three times, each with nail-biting results.

Kheiriyeh weaves an original tale that reads like a Iranian folktale about a very lucky young girl. The text is simple, yet direct. Within the text, sentences and phrases are found that are in a different font, one that is larger and bolder than the rest. These show where emphasis should be given. Both the story and the art were inspired by astrology and Persian rugs. The textures and shapes found in the mixed media artwork have a feel of days of old in Persia.

A wonderful peek into past culture...as it may have been.

Highly recommended for PreS-grade 3.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bahar, the Lucky by Rashin Kheiriyeh. PICTURE BOOK. Reycraft, 2020. $18. 9781478869078

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

A young girl weaves rugs in the Grand Bazaar of Kasham, but earns little money for her efforts. When she has a bad run in with the wife of the king’s chief fortune teller, she thinks her rug weaving days are over. She manages to reinvent herself as a fortune teller. Even though she herself doesn’t believe any of the nonsense she spouts, those who hear it find ways to believe.

I loved Kheiriyeh’s bright illustrations, but I think the story loses something for me because of my lack of knowledge of Middle Eastern story-telling. I would love to hear from someone who understands better than I do.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
https://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com/20...

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bahar is a young girl who encounters the fortune tellers wife at a public bath house. She realizes that becoming a successful fortune teller would help her family so much more than the rug-making she does now. She sets up shop as a fortune teller and is lucky in her first two appointments. When the King demands to meet her he sets her a final test and if she passes she will become the his new fortune teller. She passes but runs away before he can force her to work for him.

This book has beautiful illustrations but the story feels...off. It didn't make any sense. When the guards come ask her to divine where they would find the King's missing cat and she makes something up but it works? Really? Or how about solving the riddle of what's hidden in the man's hand by reciting some foolish rhyme? It came out of nowhere.

I don't recommend this book at all.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bahar is a simple girl from a poor rug making family. One day she sees the wife of the king's fortune teller at the public baths and she sets out to become a fortune teller herself. Trouble comes immediately as two guards need to find the king's cat or they'll be chopped into pieces and Bahar will as well. After meeting the king, Bahara decides that this fortune telling job isn't all it's cracked up to be and returns to rug making.

[Jade Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very cute cultural book. This would be a great book to read to students to teach about culture and diversity. It is very important to teach about different types of culture and this would be a great book to choose for this topic. The illustrations are also very unique and cool in this book. They are unlike everything I have seen and again, are a great portrayal of this culture in the book.

[Moraima Rosario · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book two stars because it said that the book is for ages five to nine but when reading the book, it fits for a student in middle school. A young student wouldn’t be able to read this story on their own due to the words not being in their reading level. But the illustrations are on point and the colors go well with each other.

[Patricia N. McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bright, bold (but busy) illustrations redeem this story which pits the innocence of a child against conniving adults who would despoil her but for the beneficence of Fortune. An extra star for the multicultural context and characters.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received an ARC of this book at an ALA conference.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are a bit rough but the story is fun.

[Jennifer]

I received a sample eARC courtesy of Reycraft Books.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bahar is doing Fortune telling, but she is not actually a fortune teller. I appreciated the creativity in the plot. I didn't really like the colors of the illustrations.