The Onion

This illustrated children's book is an age-old, traditional tale that's sure to bring tears to your eyes. The Onion illustrates how people have a tendency to judge based on random coincidences and rash judgement.

There once existed a town in a far-off land where no one had ever seen an onion before. Then, one day, while everyone was minding their own business, a traveller dropped an onion in the main square...

This is the story of what happened next - and how each of the townspeople tried to figure out what to do with the mysterious vegetable and how they all came to quite different conclusions.

Idries Shah published many hundreds of Sufi teaching-stories drawn from the rich cultural heritage of Eastern lands, including his own home, Afghanistan. Fun and entertaining, yet infused with Aesopian wisdom, Shah's children's books enshrine stories which increase our understanding, flexibility, and breadth of vision.

'Shah's versatile and multilayered tales provoke fresh insight and more flexible thought in children.' Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature

'These enchanting stories...have a richness and depth not often encountered in children's literature, and their effect on minds young and old can be almost magical.' Multicultural Perspectives: An Official Journal of the National Association for Multicultural Education (USA)