Rosanne Hawke (text) and Jasmine Berry (illustrator), Pepper Masalah and the giant bird (Pepper Masalah #3), Wombat Books, November 2023, 64 pp., RRP $11.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761111204
Pepper the cat and her human, Zam, are flying on their magic carpet over Afghanistan when Pepper is picked up and carried away by a giant bird. The bird carries her to a huge mountain-top nest in which lies three giant eggs. The bird tells her she must care for the eggs and flies away. Meanwhile, the magic carpet crashes with Zam still on it. Zam must figure out how he can save Pepper without the carpet to carry him.
Pepper finds another human in the nest, a local girl named Dana. The bird has also kidnapped Dana and tasked her with caring for the eggs. Dana realises that Pepper can understand her and she tells Pepper that the bird is a Simurgh, a creature from Persian myth. Dana explains that each time the Simurgh lays eggs, a giant cobra eats them. Kidnapping Dana and Pepper was part of her plan to save them. Zam tries to climb the mountain to the nest to save Pepper but the Simurgh picks him up and takes him there. Now all three are captured in the nest and must face the cobra.
When the cobra comes, Pepper and the children challenge him to a battle—of riddles. The cobra loses but still tries to eat the eggs, until the Simurgh shoos him away. The Simurgh rewards Pepper with ten emeralds. Pepper and the children are free, but there’s still the problem of the damaged magic carpet.
Luckily, Dana’s father is a carpet-maker and he can repair the carpet. But Dana’s uncle, the town’s leader, recognises the ancient magic carpet for what it is and wants it for himself. Pepper offers him the ten emeralds from the Simurgh (which the Simurgh had told her to swallow) instead. He is appeased, and Pepper and Zam farewell Dana and leave as quickly as possible with the mended carpet, eager to take it away from danger.
This is a short chapter book for newly-independent readers. It is a charming story with the feel of a traditional fable and makes a nice change from the loud chapter books that flood the market. The story is dotted with words in Dari and Urdu which lend a flavour of Afghan culture. There are translations of these words at the back as well as facts about cats, which make this a lovely book to use in an educational setting, to springboard into further learning. Beautiful illustrations by Jasmine Berry help break up the text and bring the story to life, especially the mystical Simurgh.
I had not read the first two books in the series and I think this would be wise, to give the reader better context around Pepper, Zam, and the magic carpet. There is an introduction, but more background would have helped and sometimes the introduction text slips between tenses, which adds to the confusion.
Pepper Masalah and the Giant Bird is an easy-read entrance into learning about cats and experiencing Arabian culture.
Reviewed by Pamela Ueckerman
