Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 11 February, the State Puppet Theater of Uzbekistan hosted the presentation of the book “Funny stories of Khoja Nasreddin” and the premiere of the play “Oh, this Nasreddin” using tiflocommentation.

Khoja Nasreddin is a folk character of the peoples of Central Asia, as well as the peoples of the Middle East and the Caucasus, a hero of humorous and satirical stories, jokes and fairy tales. The stories of Khoja Nasreddin are an integral part of the intangible cultural heritage of modern Uzbekistan. Over the centuries, the stories of Khoja Nasreddin have been passed from mouth to mouth with numerous manifestations of hidden wisdom and universal humor. Nasruddin is loved by children and adults for the kindness and help provided to ordinary people.

The children’s book "Funny stories of Khoja Nasreddin" is the result of a joint work of the Foundation and the German company Cultur-Cooperation International e.V with the support of the Ministry of Preschool Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan aimed at popularizing the culture and art of Uzbekistan abroad. Peacock Verlag Berlin published a book in November 2019.

The print edition included 40 stories of Khoja Nasreddin in Uzbek, Russian, German and English. The main feature of this book is that it was created with the direct participation of children of preschool educational organizations in Uzbekistan and Germany. Their illustrations were used as illustrations for the stories. An international competition was organized for the selection of illustrations, organized by the Foundation in conjunction with the Ministry of Preschool Education and the Syndicate of Preschools in Berlin.

The book is accompanied by CD with a polyphonic audio recording of stories voiced by famous Uzbek and German actors. Thanks to this, the book became available for visually impaired and blind children.

As part of the presentation of the book “Funny stories of Khoja Nasreddin”, an exhibition of tactile models of children’s drawings, selected according to the results of the international competition, will be organized. For children, master classes and an entertainment program will be held. The presentation was prepared with the support of the Ko’ngil Ko’zi project. After the presentation, the premiere of the puppet show “Oh, this Nasreddin” will take place with direct commentary.

On 12 and 13 February 2020, the play “Oh, this Nasreddin”, the exhibition and master classes will be attended by over 500 children from 6 to 10 years old.

The book "Funny stories of Khoja Nasreddin" will be distributed among preschool institutions in Uzbekistan and Germany in order to popularize the culture of Uzbekistan.