A Gift of the Sands

A Gift of the Sands is an Islamic audiobook for children aged 4 to 9 about a proud pearl whose long journey, from the sea to the desert, teaches it that contentment lives in a thankful heart.

Long ago, in the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf, an oyster made a pearl around a grain of sand. The pearl grew big and round, and it was sure it was the finest pearl in the world. It dreamed of being given to a Sultan and worn in a gorgeous ring. But a seagull broke open the shell, a wave washed the pearl out to sea, and a hungry red snapper swallowed it. From the fish market it went to a cat, a gutter, a boy's pocket on a long bus ride, a bundle of laundry, the beak of a myna bird, a bundle of alfalfa on a camel's back and the paws of a jerboa. Each time it wriggled and jiggled with impatience.

At last it lay alone in the desert, among more grains of sand than anyone could count, and it began to think. Perhaps it was not so special. Perhaps it had been wrong to be proud, angry and impatient. It learned to be thankful for the soft sand and the blue sky. Then a caravan returned, and a young man named Khalil found the pearl shining in a moonbeam, just when he needed it most.

Told in four chapters and read by Sandy Walsh, the story is full of humour and adventure. It is adapted from the story A Gift of the Sands by Julia Johnson.

1. The Journey Begins
2. A Bus Ride
3. Into the Desert
4. Happy and Thankful