Ever since I read Lucine Kasbarian's folktale, The Greedy Sparrow, an Armenian Tale published this year by Marshall Cavendish, I've wanted to talk with her. I wanted to understand her process of retelling a tale and how this tale holds the traditions of the Armenian tales she grew up hearing. Then I heard that UNESCO named Yerevan, capital city of Armenia, as the World Book Capital for 2012. So I wrote her. Lucine and I are connected by publisher. I also have a book coming with Marshall Cavendish, a small press in the limelight today since its children's book list was acquired by a new Amazon imprint. One thing Lucine and I hear from publishers and editors at Cavendish and the new Amazon imprint is that they "believe in the craft of the book."
The Greedy Sparrow is, indeed, such a book of craft. It's a wry comeuppance tale of a sparrow who tries to manipulate a series of village folk and animals - and does pay. Lucine explained about The Greedy Sparrow, the Armenian folktale tradition, the city of Yerevan, and Armenia today.
