Reading Group Guide

Bird of a Thousand Stories

By Kiyash Monsef​

About the Book

In Bird of a Thousand Stories, the companion to the New York Times bestselling Once There Was, readers travel the world alongside Marjan Dasani, a teenager with an ancient power to heal the world’s mythical creatures. When a bird with the ability to bring light to the world is threatened, Marjan partners with an uncle she has never met to save the creature from forces that wish to control it, and others who seek to destroy it. Balancing her life in California with her dangerous job requires Marjan to make choices: who to tell and who to trust. Marjan knows she must resolve this conflict before it’s too late not just for the Bird, but for herself.

Discussion Questions

1. In chapter four, Marjan doubts her actions: “I began to wonder if I was wrong, if all of this was wrong. . . . It wouldn’t be the first time I’d made things worse for myself by doing something impulsive.” How are Marjan’s sometimes impulsive actions related to her keen instincts and intuition? How is listening related to intuition?

2. Marjan witnesses a group of faeries grieving, and the sound of their grief song strikes a chord with her: “They did not sing in words, but I understood, because the meaning had claws, and the claws ripped at the places where the world had cut pieces away from me. . . .” (Chapter four) What does Marjan mean when she thinks, “Some things are the same in every heart”? How does Marjan begin to process the grief she feels from her father’s death?

3. Amu Reza tells Marjan the story about a mythical bird that keeps the wheel of life turning, the Bird of a Thousand Stories. He says, “‘The song of the simurgh was of singular beauty and contained absolute truth, and to hear it was to know, just for a moment, the answers to all questions.’” (Chapter Interlude: “The Bird of a Thousand Stories”) What does “absolute truth” mean, and does it exist? What truths, both about herself and others, does Marjan learn as she seeks to find and protect the Bird of a Thousand Stories? How does the Serpent of the World’s scale reveal true feelings?

4. In the chapter “The Turtledove and the Wind,” the turtledove says, “She told me that the circle she carried was a crooked wheel, wobbling always toward icy darkness, and that she must turn it, always, in the direction of life.” What does the wheel symbolize? Why do you think the wheel “always wobbles toward icy darkness”? Discuss aspects of birth, death, and transformation related to the Bird’s life cycles. Identify and discuss other symbolic elements in the story, such as the red flower, the egg, and the “single dancing ember, a tiny spark of Boitatá.” (Chapter eighteen)

5. Amu Reza tells Marjan, “‘Nothing is simple. Everything is connected to everything else.’” (Chapter five) Provide examples of connections throughout the story. Discuss examples in your life and in the world at large that illustrate this concept of interconnectivity.

6. At its heart, Bird of a Thousand Stories is about the power of storytelling and the lessons those stories can impart. In chapter nine, Carrie describes old stories in an interesting way:

“They’re like a stew, made of even older stories. Stories get chopped up. Some bits get forgotten, other bits get added. They get broken into pieces, and over time those pieces get spread around the world and mixed up together with other stories and other pieces. After a while you start to see the same themes showing up all over the place, the same stories echoing back and forth.”

Reread the chapters that feature the “old stories” within the story (these chapters have bolded text, and no chapter numbers). What similar themes emerge across these stories? What themes can you identify from stories that have stood the test of time, such as ancient myths, folktales, and fairy tales?

7. In chapter twelve, Malloryn—the runaway witch who, along with her familiar, Zorro, lives with Marjan—says of magic;

“Magic is everything. . . . We walk through it every day, and most people never notice. They never question the prickle at the back of their neck or the tingle in their blood. Magic. It’s birth, it’s fleeting life, it’s the whole world, it’s death. It’s transformation. It passes through us. It’s everywhere around us. And if we listen, it can tell us things. It can tell us the secrets of the universe. It can reveal the past. It can show us the future.”

Discuss Malloryn’s statement. What other words could you substitute for the word magic? When Malloryn uses the word listen, what do you think she means?

8. Trust is a recurring subject in the story. Marjan realizes that Malloryn has an unwavering trust that things will work out the way they are supposed to, but Marjan doesn’t hold her friend’s beliefs. Discuss other instances in the book in which Marjan must trust people, even if her instincts tell her not to.

9. Discuss the character Millmallow. What foreshadowing does the author provide that suggests she is not a force for good? How does Malloryn lose herself in the presence of Millmallow’s deception? Why was it easy for Millmallow to inhabit Malloryn? In what other ways does deception cause both internal and external conflict for Marjan and other characters?

10. Marjan struggles to be completely honest with her friends in order to protect them. What are some other reasons why Marjan is not completely truthful with her friends about her work and what she needs to do to find and save the Bird?

11. Early in the novel, Marjan meets a great-uncle she never knew, Amu Reza. Why does Marjan forgive Amu Reza, even after his betrayal is revealed? After Amu Reza praises Marjan on her good work, she thinks, “I felt like a secret sensor in every nerve in my body had suddenly been woken up, and everything was warm and soft.” (Chapter sixteen) Why might praise for a job well-done and pride from a loved one make a person feel “warm and soft”?

12. Marjan struggles to reconcile the injustices she sees as she works to find and save the Bird, most specifically in her dealings with The Fells.

One thing I’d learned from this work was how much stuff happened in the dark. How much amazing, terrible, world-shifting stuff happened that nobody ever got to know about. Maybe this was just another one of those things―one more invisible unfairness, one more unknown theft, tiny and far away. Maybe no one would ever know.

Discuss how injustice is a consistent theme in the novel. What key character attributes does Marjan possess to not only recognize but fight back against injustice? Reread chapter twenty. After learning about the Iranian girl in the flyer, Marjan “tried to imagine that I was as brave as her, that I believed in my own power to change things as much as she believed in hers. I made a fist, just like her, and raised it up to the sky.” How is this a turning point for Marjan?

13. After Marjan and Malloryn return from the Amazon, Marjan is filled with pain caused by Amu Reza’s betrayal. She doesn’t provide specifics to Francesa, but simply says, “‘Somebody tricked us,’” to which Francesca replies, “‘That’s one of the hardest things, isn’t it . . . When your own heart gets used against you.’” (Chapter nineteen) Explain Francesa’s reply. How can being lied to or being betrayed affect you? As Volhallan’s story of his battle with the bear changes over time, how do those changes/lies betray Volhallan’s ancestors who had to live with its aftermath?

14. Read the story of “Boitatá,” which follows chapter seventeen. Discuss how this story relates to the way mankind disregards and often destroys the natural world, but also works to save it. Use specific examples from your knowledge of current world events. How does the replanting of a razed forest symbolize hope?

15. Marjan’s anger with Amu Reza causes her to lash out at him, revealing her grief at the loss of her father. She apologizes to her uncle for the outburst, to which he replies, “‘Don’t be. . . . The sorrow you carry is the fingerprint of your soul.’” (Chapter twenty-two) Explain what you think this means.

16. Throughout the story, Marjan feels conflicted about her best friend, Grace. She is afraid to tell her the whole truth about her work, hoping to protect both Grace from harm and herself from possible rejection. When Marjan and Grace finally talk openly, Grace says, “‘It’s hard being your friend. And I might not always be good at it.’” (Chapter twenty-three) Why is it sometimes hard to be completely honest to those we care about the most? How do Marjan and Grace come to a compromise after their conversation? Discuss additional scenes in the book that reveal the sometimes difficult aspects of friendship.

17. Marjan has friends in her life who love and care about her. Discuss the following two statements from the story then put each in your own words:

a. It’s hard to love people sometimes. And then, all of a sudden, it’s the easiest thing in the world. (Chapter twenty-three)

b. And anyway, the answers weren’t the point. Sometimes this was what love felt like. (Chapter twenty-six)

18. After Malloryn leaves at the end of the story, Marjan is left wondering “why good people have such a hard time with power, but bad people can’t ever seem to let it go. I wondered how hope could be so beautiful, and so terrible.” (p. 333) How can hope be both beautiful and terrible? Discuss other aspects of the story that offer Marjan, and you the reader, hope.

Extension Activities

1. Strictly for the Birds. The names of unusual birds appear in the telling of the orphan’s tale early in the novel following chapter four: storm petrel, nightjar, harpy eagle, and hoopoe, as well as more common birds, such as a crow and a woodpecker. Assign a research project about birds both rare and common. Have each student choose a bird and learn about it in depth. To help students find and research birds, visit: https://birds.cornell.edu.

2. And in the Beginning. The Bird of a thousand stories is born, lives, and dies in a continual cycle of transformation. Challenge students to create a creature that might appear in the story that needs Marjan’s help. Write a one-page origin/creation myth, along with a drawing of the creature. Allow students time to read their story to the class.

3. The Deal with Old Stories. In the chapter “Fire in the Desert,” Marjan wonders, “What would happen if the world ran out of stories?” Using trusted internet sources and the library, research a culturally significant story, myth, or folktale. Students should familiarize themselves with the story enough to do a rewriting of it. Collect all the stories into an anthology of “old stories” and give each student a chance to read their piece to the class.

4. Flower Power. Malloryn blankets Marjan’s house in hexes made from flowers. Study the native flowers in your geographical area. Create a cutting garden from seed, preferably in a dedicated outdoor space on school property. Plant from seed and monitor growth patterns. Have students make botanical drawings of all phases of the plant. (If in a cold climate, plant seedlings indoors and transplant as early as possible in the spring so that students will see the plant come into flower.)

5. La Amazonia. In Brazil, Marjan witnesses evidence of destruction in the Amazon rainforest, the world’s largest rainforest, famous for its biodiversity. To introduce students to this natural wonder, take some time for a virtual field trip with one of the following videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsV5rqbVNQ or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsV5rqbVNQ. In addition, many lessons can be found at the Rainforest Foundation website: https://rainforestfoundation.org/engage/kids/.

This guide was created by Colleen Carroll, literacy educator, content creator, and children’s book author. Learn more about Colleen at www.colleencarroll.us.

This guide has been provided by Simon & Schuster for classroom, library, and reading group use. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these purposes.