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Book: “Papa Drew a Thousand Birds” by Maren Amini & Ahmadjan Amini
Publishing Info: Levine Querido, November 2026
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ePub from the publisher
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: A polyphonous graphic novel memoir from father and daughter about a boy’s flight and return to war-torn Afghanistan—as well as a fresh retelling of the epic Persian poem The Conference of the Birds.
Ahmadjan dreams of becoming an artist, but finds few opportunities in tumultuous Afghanistan. So he leaves … and thus begins a colorful, zigzagging path that is not just a powerful meditation on art, war, and the meaning of life—as well as a stunning collection of a myriad of different illustration forms—but a singular retelling of the legendary Persian epic The Conference of the Birds.
By the end of Papa Drew a Thousand Birds, you realize Ahmadjan and his daughter Maren are telling this story together, and their birds have flown their way into your heart.
Review: Thank you to Levine Querido for sending me an ePub of this graphic novel!
It’s been a bit since I’ve done a graphic memoir (since this past Spring I’m thinking), and when “Papa Drew a Thousand Birds” by Maren Amini and Ahmadjan Amini, a daughter writing duo writing about Ahmadjan’s life as an artist, ended up in my inbox I was incredibly interested to give it a look. I always like graphic memoirs, especially ones that speak to experiences I am not as familiar with, and this one was promising. And I quite enjoyed it!
This is a memoir about Ahmadjan, a man who grew up in Afghanistan and dreamed of being an artist, and who left for Europe in the 1970s in pursuit of his dreams and ambitions. As he hones his craft and creates his art in Germany, he finds himself returning to Afghanistan on and off as his home country goes through many significant changes and moments of upheaval due to instability, encroaching Imperialism, and war. All of this is done with the backdrop of his lifelong project of painting a thousand birds, as well as weaving it along with the epic poem The Conference of Birds, which served as inspiration for his vision. I really enjoyed the way that father and daughter tell his story, addressing the joys of success and creativity as well as the struggles of trying to make it as an artist with not uncommon road blocks, especially as his home country becomes more and more tenuous and fractured with conflict. I also really liked the way that the epic poem’s themes are compared and contrasted with Ahmadjan’s journey of becoming an artist while also having to balance out other aspects of his life and the reality of the world he lives within.
This was also a fascinating and personal story about a man from Afghanistan watching his home change, and a fascinating and informative basic history lesson of a country that is VERY different now than it was when he was growing up. I am not as well versed in the history of Afghanistan (or really any countries from that region of the world), and I thought that the way that we see how it changes and faces lots of difficulties, while also remaining important and precious and complex to the person whose story we are learning, made for a good read. It reminded me a bit of “Persepolis” in that way, as it certainly discusses some of the more well known difficulties, but also wants to show that a country and culture cannot be defined by such things alone.
And since it’s a graphic novel, I gotta mention the art! It took me a little while to get used to aspects of it (it is SO cartoony in a lot of ways), but once I started to adjust, I realized that I really found it charming in its very unique way. The topics in the book can be heavy, but the style makes it so that it doesn’t get overloaded with the weight of it all, while also still remaining respectful and at times introspective (I especially loved seeing the birds artwork as new characters were introduced and they were likened to various birds). It’s a style that definitely stands out.
I enjoyed “Papa Drew a Thousand Birds” and found it to be a unique and moving insight into a man driven by artistry as his country goest through significant changes.
Rating 8: A lovely and moving tale about art, finding yourself, and identity against the backdrop of an ever changing reality, “Papa Drew a Thousand Birds” is a touching graphic memoir.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Papa Drew a Thousand Birds” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Books Set in the -stan Countries”.
