Join author Rebecca Sheir and composer Eric Shimelonis, creators of WBUR’s award-winning children’s podcast, Circle Round, as they introduce a new picture books series that highlights a range of folktales exploring timeless values of kindness, generosity, acceptance, and more!

In The Tale of the Unwelcome Guest: Nasruddin Teaches the Town a Lesson, Sheir’s original adaptation of a Middle Eastern folktale, readers are introduced to Nasruddin, who is very excited to attend a grand banquet. After a long, hard day working in his vineyard, Nasruddin has no time to spare and heads to the banquet in his work clothes, looking different from what the townspeople were expecting. But Nasruddin is a clever fellow—and he figures out a most delicious way to teach the town a lesson about judging people for the way they look.

Specially designed to be read aloud and shared, the story is accompanied by questions and prompts for conversation, along with creative storytelling activities.