At a time when streetlamps are lit by hand, Peppe lives in New York's Little Italy. With Mamma dead, Papa ill, and seven sisters at home, times are hard; the tradespeople Peppe asks for work all turn him down. So when the lamplighter asks the boy to take his place while he goes back to Italy, Peppe is overjoyed; at first, each lamp he lights is a wish for his family—that Assunta ``learns good English in school,'' that Giulia marries well, that Nicolina finds work. But Papa is bitterly disappointed—``Did I come to America for my son to light the streetlamps?'' Discouraged, Peppe leaves the lamps dark one night, only to learn that little Assunta has depended on the light to come home. Thus Peppe regains his self-respect—and Papa's approval. The economically told narrative gracefully incorporates many details of the setting, which is also splendidly realized in Lewin's luminous paintings. Peppe's lamps shine bravely in a tenement world where both night and interiors are dark, while clothing and street scenes are also somber. Lewin's characterizations are subtle and telling; in his splendid compositions, the dramatic interplay of light and dark intensify the story's message of hope. A beautiful, moving book. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10268-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
A delightful, understated triumph.
Sal Miller’s sense of self is shaken just before the start of first grade.
The protagonist of Oh, Sal (2022) confronts new challenges. For one thing, Sal’s younger sister, Poppy, now 2, is sharing what used to be Sal’s bedroom with her. And Sal’s high expectations for the first day of school are disappointed when her best friend and next-door neighbor, Griffen, is assigned to a different classroom. Griffen’s teacher, the charmingly named Ms. Flowers, seems pretty perfect. By contrast, in less bubbly Ms. McCormick’s class, Sal’s nametag mistakenly reads “Sally,” and Ms. McCormick’s tour of the school is fairly dull. Sal—bright and full of opinions and interest in the world around her—wears her feelings and hopes close to the surface. Fairly sophisticated language and observations stretch the target audience to include third and fourth graders for whom first grade may be a distant memory (or even, for some, never experienced in person). Henkes’ graceful, easy prose, sharp insights, and impressive ability to convey the way children think shine here. He invites readers to empathize with Sal, feeling her disappointment and annoyance with a world that doesn’t always understand her as well as the satisfaction with small victories that bring her back to herself: getting used to a major haircut and learning to connect with Ms. McCormick. Spot art from Henkes is scattered throughout. Characters’ races and ethnicities aren't mentioned; previous titles cued characters as white.
A delightful, understated triumph. (Fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780063389625
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
Young readers will enjoy this glimpse of Jewish immigrant life.
A little fish gets a big break!
Shirley’s immigrant family comes to the United States and opens a new store. However, there is a problem: They cannot sell the gefilte fish, a family specialty, to the customers in their store’s neighborhood. Pretty soon the stuffed fish dish piles up, and Shirley’s parents lament that they might be eating it forever if they cannot sell some soon. Shirley takes it upon herself to try her best to move gefilte-units. Even though Mama says she is too little to help, one day, when the other adults are busy, Shirley gets the opportunity to step in—and, with a very creative solution, she saves the day. After all, it’s Shirley’s store, too. The story, which appears to take place around the turn of the 19th century, is a whole family undertaking, with Jewish food and culture at the center. Illustrations, created with pencil sketches that were overdrawn and digitally colored, use plenty of white space, and a sense of warmth pervades the narrative. Yiddish words—like farmisht and keppele—dot the pages and are listed in a helpful glossary that explains that Yiddish was spoken by many Eastern European Jews. Shirley and her family are light-skinned; theirs is a diverse community. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Young readers will enjoy this glimpse of Jewish immigrant life. (recipe for gefilte fish) (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64614-126-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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