Der Wunderkasten

by Rafik Schami, Peter Knorr (Illustrator)

Ein alter Geschichtenerzähler zieht durch die Gassen von Damaskus und lässt die Kinder in seinen Wunderkasten blicken. Dort hören und sehen sie die Geschichte vom Hirtenjungen Sami und der schönen Leila. Doch im Laufe der Zeit wandelt sich diese Geschichte ...

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Born in Damascus, Syria in 1946, Rafik Schami (Arabic: رفيق شامي) is the son of a baker from an Arab-Christian (originally Aramaic) family. His schooling and university studies (diploma in chemistry) took place in Damascus. From 1965, Schami wrote stories in Arabic. From 1964-70 he was the co-founder and editor of the wall news-sheet Al-Muntalak (The Starting-Point) in the old quarter of the city. In 1971 Schami moved to Heidelberg and financed further studies by typical guest worker jobs (factories, building sites, restaurants). He earned his doctorate in chemistry in 1979 and began career in the chemical industry. In his spare time, he co-founded the literary group Südwind in 1980 and was part of the PoLiKunst movement. Schami became a full time author in 1982. He lives in Kirchheimbolanden with his Bavarian wife and son and he holds dual citizenship. Schami's books have been translated into 20 languages

Reviews

[Jenny's Lesestoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein tolles Kinderbuch mit einem wunderschönen Märchen auf humorvolle Art erzählt, untermauert mit tollen Bildern! Für kleine und große Kinder eine Freude!

[Tintenhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ein wundervolles Bilderbuch
Meine ausführliche Rezension findet Ihr unter folgendem Link
https://tintenhain.de/2017/04/20/rafi...

[V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why we chose this book:
I try to keep my eye out for German books appearing in our market and came across this before its publication date. It looked a bit advanced for T, and when I told him about it, he wasn't super keen. I was disappointed. However, Crocodile Books included a review copy for our consideration with a book we had requested. I was thrilled, and T has done a 180 now that he's read it and seen the pictures.

Mom's Review (V)

You could read this as a fairy tale, as a critique of consumerism, or as both. It is beautifully narrated and illustrated. The frame is that of a childhood recollection: the narrator remembers a storyteller who visited his or her alley every month, offering free stories and a chance to view the illustrations in a wonder chest for only one piaster (a few cents). The children are always entranced by his tales and enchanted by the images that scroll through the chest. Over time, however, the images become worn, and the storyteller replaces them with images from advertisements and magazines, which change and deform his stories. The children's love turns to disdain until the storyteller returns a few years later, with an empty chest and only his voice. When the children peer into the dark chest and listen to the story, they can see the original images in their minds' eyes and are enchanted once again. Once the bizarre assemblage of images is gone, the children's imaginations blossom and they rediscover the magic of narrative.

The fairytale within is no less entertaining than the frame. A poor young shepherd, Sami, falls in love with a rich farmer's daughter, Leyla. The two care only for each other, but the father intends for her to wed a rich, old sheikh. He sets obstacle after obstacle in Sami's path, from milking a lion to procuring 300 camels as dowry, but the shepherd overcomes them all. After several adventures, the two wed, to their own joy and to that of the entire village.

The frame narrative is set in Damascus; we can infer that the fairy tale is set in Syria as well. T made a comment to me later one evening after we had read it a couple of times earlier in the day. He told me that it reminded him of Aladdin. I asked him why, assuming that it had something to do with the storyline about a poor young man trying to marry a rich young lady, or perhaps that Knorr and the Disney team both draw the hero in the same style of pants. T hadn't picked up on either of those similarities, he told me. Instead, he explained that it was because the artists drew Sami and Aladdin with the same color skin. We talked about where each story was set, and how skin tone can vary by geographical region. It was interesting to me to see how a four-year old picked up on race in this book in particular. We read a pretty diverse cast of characters, so I'm not sure why this one stood out to him. It certainly opened the door to an easy conversation about race and geography. Do your kiddos react to race in their books? What strikes them?

Son's Review (T)

"My favorite page is the one with the demon!"

(Age: 4)

Son: Why are you crying?

Mom: I'm crying because he doesn't have the chest anymore, but, well, are the children looking at the pictures in the chest or in their mind?

Son: In their mind. Dream movies are pictures in your mind with guys talking in the pictures.

Mom: Look at the beginning. See how how the children look through the little windows to see the pictures? But what happened? Did the children like the story anymore?

Son: Replace [the pictures]. No.

Mom: Why do you think the children liked no pictures better than the advertisement pictures?

Son: Because it is magic.

Mom: Is it really magic or did it just feel like magic?

Son: It just felt like magic.

Mom: What happened when he used no pictures? How did the children feel?

Son: Excited!

Mom: That's right. They had missed him. Do you think they remembered the original pictures?...How did the book make you feel?

Son: Yeah. A little bit sad because he [Sami] didn't get a donkey or a white horse anymore and his motorcycle got stolen. And why I felt happy is because he got to marry her.

Mom: Did you like the story with Sami and Leyla or the story with Sami and Colgate better?

Son: This one! [points to Sami and Leyla]

Mom: Would you want to see a picture story like this? Does it remind you of any toy you have?

Son: Yeah...My microscope!
(His microscope talks about what each slide shows.)

Son: Let's read it again!

Mom: Can you tell me what you liked so much?

Son: That it had two stories with Sami in it. Now let's read.

Mom: Let's, but could I ask you another question? If the storyteller came down our street, what would you do?

Son: I'd go and say, "Hi, my name's T. What's your name?"

[Mickey Bits · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this book is a translation of the original German. And the author in-turn in a native Arabic speaker. It's an excellent rendering. It's a picture book, but for older children as the story is a bit more sophisticated.

What really struck me about this book is how the author really captures the storyteller's voice. As I was reading it, I could vividly imagine the storyteller and his vocal inflections and idioms, and how they are used in Arabic language. Very authentic.

Very enjoyable.

[Kirin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not a quick read, it begs to be read aloud and the pictures poured over.  The 48 heavily text filled pages are a trip back in time before the tale twists in on itself and becomes a story that gets more outrageous with each upgrade.  It claims to be for grades first through fourth, but I think it would need a lot of hand holding and attention to get any children to read it.  The story would really come to life at bedtime with a loved one, or in a classroom with discussion, but I don't know that most children in that demographic would willingly pick up the book, read it, enjoy it and reflect on it, without some guidance.  The illustrations show characters in hijab and thumbing tasbeehs, the text mentions Allah swt and in phrases calling on Him in exasperation.  There is a "kiss", it is a love story after all, and some demons and sorcery, but I think it is clean enough and silly enough that kids of all ages will enjoy it and not find it offensive or scary.

Many years ago an old man in the old city of Damascus, would walk around carrying a large chest and tell stories.  Four lucky kids for only one piaster each could look into the chest and see the images of the story, the other children could listen to the story for free.  He didn't come often, but when he would come the children would rush to meet him and listen to the stories, their favorite the one of Sami and Leyla.

Sami was a shepherd boy, he was beautiful, but poor.  Leyla was the daughter of the richest farmer in the village and after their "accidental" kiss Leyla and Sami met every evening despite Leyla's father forbidding it.  The whole village is in a buzz over the two lovebirds.  When Leyla is kidnapped, her father reluctantly tells Sami that if he can bring her back then they can marry.  When Sami returns with her, Leyla's father pretends to be ill and in need of milk from a lioness.  Once again he promises that if Sami can obtain the milk than the two can marry.  Sami not only gets the milk, but returns riding a lion.  Leyla's dad says that he is brave indeed, but that his daughter can only marry a rich man and needs to pay 300 camels as dowry.  Sami heads to Damascus to steal the camels from the king, but gets caught and put in prison.  Lucky for Sami, a dove comes to visit him and after he saves her life, she grants him one wish.  Yes, the animals can talk.  The camels and freedom are granted, but still Leyla's father is not willing to allow the marriage.  He summons a sorcerer to send demons to turn his daughter in to a lizard.  When night after night the demons fail and beat the sorcerer, it is revealed that the father hired him.  The next day the two are married.

Over time the pictures in the chest began to fade and new pictures from modern advertisements are used to replace the traditional images.  Leyla becomes Colgate, yes, from a toothpaste advertisement.  She has a glorious smile and is now the daughter of a car dealer who drinks only Fresh Mountain mineral water.  She gets kidnapped and Sami hears about it on his Filix portable radio that she is being held in a club and is forced to serve ice-cold Coca-Cola.  The story continues like this, but at some point the children in the story become bored with the new version, and sing the jingles for the items mentioned instead, until the story teller packs up and leaves.

Two years pass and no one has heard from the story teller, some say he went mad, others that he died.  Then one day he comes back to town and the children all run to listen to his stories.  There is a chest to peer in, but there is nothing inside, like magic however, when the old man starts to tell his story, the images appear in the minds of the children.

The illustrations are wonderful and detailed, and radiate warmth and richness.  The conversation I had after with my own kids, about what was valued and the power of stories is so powerful to see dawning on the listeners.  They get it, they do, and they realize how ridiculous the "updates" were.  When they realize it is the story teller and the magic of being together and sharing a story, they too become one of the children in the book and it is wondrous to observe.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful picture book about the concept and power of storytelling, but the telling of the story is so strange that I couldn't give it a fifth star.
At the core of the story is a storyteller, one from a tradition that involves showing pictures to go with the telling of the story. In this case, the original pictures from one of his stories start wearing out, and his replacements are...um...really weird and not satisfying to the audience. The final solution he comes up with is much better, but I think might be differently unsatisfying to anyone wanting what he originally did, so I'm not sure the book works.
Still, the story that he's telling is an excellent one, and the artwork of the framing story is also excellent, so if the framing story itself has a few weaknesses, they're not enough to ruin the book. They might, on the other hand confuse young readers or listeners, so that is a minor problem.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm confused by most of these reviews, because the book I read was about an old storyteller who had a box with pictures inside. He told a story about a young man named Sami, but as the years went by he had to fix his pictures with advertisements and tape. But most reviews here mention seven people helping tell a story, so I don't know what book that is. This was an interesting story, but kind of long.

[Se · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der Wunderkasten ist ein wunderschön illustriertes Kinderbuch, das in Worten und Bildern die syrische Stadt Damaskus zum Leben erweckt.
In ihm erzählt ein alter Geschichtenerzähler eine Geschichte. "Zuhören kostet nichts" - so ruft er die Kinder des Viertels herbei, und für einen Piaster kann man sogar die Bilder zur Geschichte im Wunderkasten des Mannes sehen.

[Jonathan Butcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures.
A commentary on the power of imagination.