The One and Only Rumi

Starred review from January 1, 2025
In a blaze of color, the 13th-century Persian poet's life takes a turn. Images filled with rich jewel tones, bold geometric shapes, and birds galore introduce the boy Muhammad, before he became Rumi, one of the best-known poets in history. Exquisite linework and expansive compositions paint a mystical picture of his early life in Central Asia 800 years ago. Muhammad loves to listen to birdsong and his father's ney (flute), "soft and sweet as a gentle rain." But his peaceful world is shattered when Genghis Khan's army approaches. Packing his belongings in a rush, Muhammad wishes his bag were "big enough to fit everything he loved....But the bag [is] just a bag." After he flees with his parents, arriving in Baghdad and continuing on to Mecca, his mother and father remind him to "never stop singing," and he tells himself to "be like the sun!" Exploring a potentially lesser-known side of the poet, the concise yet lyrical narrative itself evokes Rumi's potent verse. When the family finally settles in a new home, they temper their sadness with gratitude that they're still together. Holding fast to "quiet hope" and the "entire universe" within himself, Muhammad opens his heart to new friends and grows up to be "the one and only Rumi." An author's note underlines the teaching that "hope in the darkest of times can always be found." A dazzling tribute to a luminary figure.(Picture-book biography. 5-9)

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