Crow Who Stood on His Beak - Hardcover

This engaging little fairy tale by a Syrian-born writer raised in Germany, illustrated by one Belgian and one Swiss artist, tells the story of a precocious fledgling crow who learns some lessons about vanity and humility when he encounters a splendid peacock who delights in showing off his wondrous tailfeathers. The little crow has a trick of his own: balancing on the end of his beak, waving his little wings and legs to stay up. Therein lies the rub in this old-fashioned morality tale for young children. Both the overweening peacock and the daring little crow wind up redeemed after the peacock has an unfortunate encounter with a bramble bush.

Rafik Schami was born in the Syrian capital Damascus in 1946, where hefounded a newspaper Al-Muntalek displayed on the walls of the old city.In 1971 he emigrated to Germany, where he worked in factories and restaurantswhile studying chemistry and writing for newspapers and journals.Eight years later he graduated with a Ph.D. and then in 1980 founded theliterary group 'Sudwind' (South wind) and a multi-cultural organizationcalled 'PoLiKunst-Verein'. He received several literary prizes including theHermann-Hesse-Preis and the Prix de Lecture. His latest novel Die dunkleSeite der Liebe (The Dark Side of Love) was published by Hanser in 2004.Rafik Schami has written this book with the culinary help of his sister MarieFadel.