Joha Makes A Wish:

A Middle Eastern Tale

Adapted by Eric A. Kimmel

Illustrated by Omar Rayyan

1. Bibliography

Kimmel, Eric. Joha Makes A Wish. Ill. by Omar Rayyan. Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Children, 2010. ISBN: 9780761455998

2. Plot Summary

Joha Makes a Wish is a traditional Middle Eastern tale based of off a Yemen folktale called “The Answered Prayer.”   In this folktale Joha, the main character, stumbles upon a wishing stick and soon discovers that every time he makes a wish the opposite happens.  Joha lands himself in a lot of trouble when he wishes for a wart on the Sultans nose to go away and the Sultans nose becomes covered in warts.  The Sultan sends guards after Joha and he hides in a shopkeepers wood chest. When Joha discovers from the local shopkeeper that he has been holding the wishing stick upside down, he tries to correct all his wishes.  Joha goes to the Sultan and wishes for his nose to go back to normal and the Sultan takes the stick and keeps it.  Even though Joha has no wishing stick, he ends up better off than the Sultan. 

3. Critical Analysis

Joha Makes A Wish is a classic wise fool noodlehead folktale.  The author’s note to the reader explains that the main character of this story is Joha, a character often found in folktales from Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia.  The author portrays Joha as a poor and simple man of Middle Eastern descent.  One example of Joha’s simple ways might be when Joha is given the chance to wish for anything, he wishes for shoes because his are worn out.  However the sultan in the story is portrayed as rich, mean, and greedy.  He threatens to lock Joha in a dungeon when he does not want to make a wish for him and takes the wishing stick from Joha at the end of the story.  This tale is also a good triumphs over bad story.  When the wishing stick is taken from Joha by the sultan, Joha is given a donkey as a reward. He seems to get the better end of the bargain as we see a picture of the forlorn Sultan sitting in poverty under a tent. 

The illustrator Omar Rayyan, uses watercolors to paint detailed and comical pictures.  The illustrations lend themselves nicely to the story by elaborating on the emotions of Joha.  For example the author writes about how Joha wishes the stick would go away and becomes angry when it gets stuck to his hand.  The illustrator shows Joha in many different and funny positions yelling at the stick and trying to pry it from his hand.  Rayyan also uses earthy red, blue, green, brown, and gold colors throughout the story.  He uses gold, a color worn by royalty, for the Sultan and lines some of the pictures in gold trim with knotted designs on the corners.  Whenever Joha makes a wish the gold designs on the corners of the page separate and add to the image of magic happening in the picture.  The colors and gold trim also give the reader the impression they are in a Middles Eastern land. 

This story has an independent reading level of 3.2 or third grade.  Adults and children of all ages will enjoy this comical folktale.    

4. Review Excerpts

Winner of the 2010 Aesop Prize.

Winner of the 2010 Oregon Spirit Book Award (Children’s Book Category)

2012 Treasure State Award Nominee

School Library Journal-“A visual stunner coupled with a fantastic bit of storytelling, this one’s a winner. People of the world, take note.” (Review of the Day, June 1^st, 2010) Full Text Available at: School Library Journal, June 1, 2010 http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2010/06/01/review-of-the-day-joha-makes-a-wish-by-eric-a-kimmel/

School Library Journal- Joha's misadventures and the trouble he causes the sultan depart liberally from their folklore and cultural roots but offer an enjoyable escapade demonstrating that universal scheme of the unwitting little guy getting the better of those in power. The wishing scheme and fulsome pictures promise read-aloud fun.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Magazine- Joha Makes A Wish(2010; Kimmel, Eric A.; Marshall Cavendish Children); Excerpt: "Kimmel narrates with his usual wit and panache, nicely extended in Rayyan's watercolor illustrations, where humorously exaggerated characters are realized in tastefully muted colors while the action bursts energetically from elegant frames. A fine choice for storytelling." (Horn Book Magazine; May/June 2010, Vol. 86 Issue 3, p69-69, 1p)

5. Connections

Look up other names for Joha and read other similar traditional tales.  Do a character analysis of Joha based on the folktales and talk about his character traits. Ex. Wise Fool

The Wise Fool: Fables from the Islamic World by Shahrukh Husain ISBN: 9781846862267

Goha The Wise Fool by Denys Johnson-Davies ISBN: 978-0399242229

Read The Answered Prayer, which the book Joha Makes A Wish was inspired by.  Discuss similarities and differences in the folktales in The Answered Prayer and Joha Makes A Wish.  Talk about why Eric A. Kimmel might have been inspired to write Joha Makes A Wish after reading The Answered Prayer.

The Answered Prayer: And Other Yemenite Folktales by Sharlya Gold ISBN: 978-0827607729

Read other traditional tales written by Eric A. Kimmel. Discuss similarities and talk about common elements found in the tales.

Other folktales retold and adapted by Eric. A. Kimmel:

Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock Retold by Eric A. Kimmel ISBN: 978-0823407989

Anansi and the Talking Melon Retold by Eric A. Kimmel ISBN: 978-0823411672
The Golem Latkes Adapted by Eric A. Kimmel ISBN: 978-0761459040

The Greatest of All: A Japanese Folktale Retold by Eric A. Kimmel ISBN: 978-0823412037