The Little Black Fish Book

This is a classic in Persian child literature. On the one hand the story is a beautiful tale where the reality is mixed with fiction. It tells an enlightening legend about a Little Black Fish who encounters the strange, narrow-minded world of grown-ups, most of which signify some futile aspect of adult existence. A dogmatic way of life filled with ignorance and the fear of the unknown, remained unchanged throughout generations, is the reason behind our hero's wish to travel to the sea and find out about life in other parts of the world.

After long discussions with the community members who try to convince him to succumb to their static lifestyle and are willing to destroy him when they see their way of life under attack, he finally leaves in search of a better life. Along the way The Little Black Fish interacts with frogs, small fish and the moon. He also has brave encounters with a crab, a pelican and a swordfish. A wise lizard gives him lots of advice, encourages him to follow his quest, make connections and look for the team of fishes that have come together and formed a strong alliance to defend themselves when in danger.

For children: beautiful, interesting and lovely tale about a little black fish who wants to learn about life and look for answers. For adults: short, well-written and edifying story about themselves and a path they can follow to achieve the goals of freedom and justice.

Seldom do we find in literature a work with so many well-elaborated facets. A novel which is also richly adorned with history, politics, character studies while addressing deep philosophical, political and social issues.

Although ostensibly a children's book, The Little Black Fish makes countless profound and realistic points about life and human nature. In this story we can see the painful truth about ourselves. The plot is not complicated because the most important message there is the question "what is the real essence of our life?"

The essence of the book is contained in the great and famous lines uttered by the Little Black Fish when thinking about his accomplishments: "I might face death any minute now, but I should not put myself in harms' way as long as I can live. Of course, it is not important if I die, because this is going to happen anyway. I know my purpose: How will my life or death impact the lives of others?"