Aladdin Books International Co

“Captures The Heart....and among other things introduces it to wonderful parables of love,truth and beauty” SONIA SANCHEZ National Academy of Arts Fellow/Poet Laureate of Philadelphia/ Poet in Residence Temple University “Dr Mannan creates worlds that expands a sense of who we are as humans and ponders the unique strange and wonderful dimensions of ourselves” LEE MASON WABC Radio “Mannan’s NOD is an imaginative “Alice in Wonderland” on steroids. full of nutty kings, royal frogs, talking trees , wicked walls who swallow people,and dasmels who save the world” JASON WHITAKER Urban Literature Review

“Captures The Heart....and among other things introduces it to wonderful parables of love,truth and beauty” SONIA SANCHEZ National Academy of Arts Fellow/Poet Laureate of Philadelphia/ Poet in Residence Temple University “Dr Mannan creates worlds that expands a sense of who we are as humans and ponders the unique strange and wonderful dimensions of ourselves” LEE MASON WABC Radio “Mannan’s NOD is an imaginative “Alice in Wonderland” on steroids. full of nutty kings, royal frogs, talking trees , wicked walls who swallow people,and dasmels who save the world” JASON WHITAKER Urban Literature Review

) Story Summaries MUBASSA’S DREAM B) Story Summaries MUBASSA’S DREAM Part I (The Bear Who Would Be Man) Mubassa a young prince of bears who lives in the forest of feelings is overcome with a deep desire to become what he believes is a supreme power of nature – a man. He is attracted to man’s ability to “stalk and protect save and kill reap and sow spend and keep”. He seeks the assistance of the wise old raccoon in his quest and promises to do anything that he can to become a man. When he is confronted with a first challenge of character he becomes proud and haughty. After failing the first test of character he is left to his own wits and despite this failure his dream of becoming a man becomes miraculously true. He becomes a young man of junior high school age and is adopted by the father of Rose Nuri, a beautiful girl who finds him sleeping in the forest and with whom he falls in love. Once Mubassa is adopted by this human family, he quickly assimilates human characteristics in every respect. However, he still has some very bearlike skills. For example, he shows off his ability to catch fish with his bare hands and his stalking skills surpass any human hunter. However, it’s not long before Mubasssa is forced to confide his true secret identity to Rose Nuri. At first, she doesn’t quite believe it but eventually she becomes his sole confidant. Eventually our hero is confronted as a hunter with a decision whether to save the life of a member of his own family or to participate with his human stepfather in a deadly hunting exercise. Forced to confront his true identity and reality, what will Mubassa do? And what will be his final destiny? Will Mubassa ever see his family again? Will he remain a man or return to his true bear identity /born identity? MUBASSA’S DREAMPart II (Sun Bear Learns a Lesson) Prince Mubassa has now become king of the forest. The evil lion Cassius seeks to overthrow the dynasty of Mubassa Bear by arranging for the murder of his son, “Sun Bear”(heir apparent). Cassius had formed an alliance with an evil woodcutter and is wife to murder Sun Bear but the plot has failed. King Mubassa wants to find the criminal. He sends out a posse via Captain Raccoon, the Baron of Bats and the Chief of the Ants to find the traitor. Cassius for his part has a relationship with the woodcutter to gain some unsavory favors. Cassius is discovered and will earn his just deserts and so will the evil woodcutter and his wife along the way. Along the path of his young life, however, Sun Bear has the opportunity of freeing animals that are oppressed in the Barnum Bailey Circus and he also has an opportunity to taunt Cassius after he has been captured. Obedience to principle, compassion and grace is important, but will Sun Bear learn this important principle of life lessons? Legend 1The Mango Leaf and The Mango Tree(The Little Leaf Who Wanted to Fly) Joshua a young, tender and perpetually stubborn little Mango Leaf lives on the twig of King Mango Tree in Jamaica. Against the advice of his mother and siblings, Joshua is hell bent on leaving the mango tree to which he belongs and flying around the world on the wistful winds of fortune. His family urges him to stay so they can fulfill their role as twig leaves who serve as the throne bearers of King Mango Fruit (The King of Fruits). Joshua, “the stubborn mango leaf” “jumps to wind” on the first strong wind that comes along. He does indeed travel around the world, riding the backs of different wind currents until he ends up falling onto a pedestrian path in Central Park, New York. He is discovered by a vigilant botanist who saves him from being trampled. Unfortunately it seems, Joshua ends up in a scrap book of leaves and flowers placed ona shelf on the botanist’s library. He lies pressed between the plastic sheets of the botanists scrap book on a cold metal shelf of the botanist’s study for 50 years. The botanist dies leaving poor little Joshua trapped. For 50 years Joshua “the stubborn mango leaf” prayed for freedom and never gave up the green color of hope. Find out how his prayer is answered and what Joshua does when he is returned to the same King Mango Tree in Jamaica only to find out that his family (the other leaves on the twig, his mother and siblings, etc.) have already “gone to heaven”. Read about how Joshua joins and finds His family in heaven! Legend 2Bah Hum Bug:A Recession for the Birds It’s the middle of winter and of a bitter economic recession! A black top-abandoned mall parking lot is the selected site for the annual New YorkConvention Center For Sea Gulls. In better times when the mall was opened this site was a “Camelot” for holidayshoppers. Now it has become a daily hangout for seagulls and a few brave pigeonsand sparrows who use it to panhandle for their daily bread. They all depend on the generosity of the Dunkin Donuts girl (aka “crumb disposalmanager”), “The Pigeon Lady” and an old man and his young son and others who bringbread crumbs to “feed the birds”. Now that the times have changed (it’s a recession) human beings are fighting over thebreadcrumbs of a failed economy .themselves. Yes, it’s really crisis time for seagulls. A gallant inspiring guest speaker, Albert Ross Dean is expected addres the Sea GullConvention from the top telephone wire stretched across the parking lot. He said that seagulls must “do for self”, that seagull fortune and survival lies in fishing inthe ocean and not with “begging for crumbs” from the human table of opportunity, orgenerosity. A few brave seagulls leave with the guest speaker and “fly into the wind” of theirdestiny! Others who stay behind are threatened with starvation, predation by humans andhumiliation. Who made the right choice? Those who left for the sea or those who decided to wait itout? What would you do if you were a seagull and that were your “lot in life”? Legend 3The Tale of the Shell: The Frog of the Ocean and The Frog of the Well King John Solomon, the King of the Frogs of the 7 oceans is a philosopher and scientistwhose keen desire is to find out whether there are other frogs in the universe of theLand of Nod. One day he assembled his 5 brave knights I Frog, Hear Frog, Touch Frog, Taste Frogand Smell Frog, and sets out to undertake a dangerous journey beyond the sea. A violent storm attacks the brave little King Frog and his entourage. It tosses our friendsinto strange towns of weird creatures and circumstances. Finally after crossing the cold blue “Mountain of Reason”, they discover a giant well inthe desert and are immediately confronted by the Queen Frog of the Well and herarmies. The Queen Frog of the Well believes that her well is the world that encompasses thewhole reality of civilization and that King John Solomon are just some lost “extraterrestrials” or worse dangerous “other world” invaders. King John Solomon tries to convince her that the universe is more spacious than theQueen would believe and he is king of seven oceans which makes her world smallindeed. After leaving the Knight of Feelings (Touch Frog) behind as her prisoner, King JohnSolomon convinces The Queen of the Well to accompany him through undergroundrivers in her well back to the sea. The King is convinced that all rivers must meet the sea somewhere. So he takes achance to see what they will find. What happens next is the crux of the story. What will Queen of the Well do if they make it to one of the seven seas? What willhappen to the brave Knight of Feelings who was left behin