Award-winning actress Yasmine Al Massri brings to life traditional Syrian and Lebanese folktales, passed down through generations by women, and collected by Najla Khoury inPearls on a Branch: Tales from the Arab World Told by Women at the Tilt Kids Festival 2018.

Khoury originally published these tales in Arabic in 2014, having collected them as she traveled through Lebanon with a theater troupe during the country’s civil war from 1975 to 1990. In March 2018, Archipelago Books publishes a selection of these most popular tales, translated from Arabic by Inea Bushnaq.

“[T]hese tales are radiant with sunlight and flowers, jinns and spirits, palaces and sultans… the themes will resonate with anyone who loves fairy tales and folklore… An absolute delight for readers young and old.” —Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal