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SHOLOM’S TREASURE

Name: SHOLOM’S TREASURE
Author: Erica Silverman
ISBN: 0-374-38055-4

HOW SHOLOM ALEICHEM BECAME A WRITER

by Erica Silverman & illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 11, 2005

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A picture-book biography of Sholom Aleichem focuses not on his work as an adult, but on how the child grew to become the writer. Young Sholom Rabinowitz admires his father’s ability to make others laugh, and quickly learns that he shares it—though it frequently gets him into trouble. As the family moves from a shtetl to a larger town, accumulating 12 children, and a stepmother after Sholom’s mother dies, the child hones his talents of mimicry and wordplay, collecting his stepmother’s colorful insults and beginning to write on his own. Silverman’s text moves quickly, using dialogue adapted from Aleichem’s own memoir and focusing on Sholom’s desire to make his father proud—to present him with a treasure. Gerstein’s loose lines and bright colors bristle with energy and humor, presenting a wide-eyed boy who nevertheless possesses a wicked sense of fun, as he assumes the characters of those around him—who will later take on literary life in his stories. Although most in the audience will be unfamiliar with Aleichem, they will identify with the child’s dual wishes to please his father and to excel. (author’s note, afterword, sources) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)

Pub Date: March 11, 2005

ISBN: 0-374-38055-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

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THE CITY SINGS GREEN & OTHER POEMS ABOUT WELCOMING WILDLIFE
by Erica Silverman ; illustrated by Ginnie Hsu

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JACK (NOT JACKIE)
by Erica Silverman ; illustrated by Holly Hatam

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WAKE UP, CITY!
by Erica Silverman ; illustrated by Laure Fournier

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BECAUSE YOUR DADDY LOVES YOU

by Andrew Clements & illustrated by R.W. Alley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 23, 2005

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Give this child’s-eye view of a day at the beach with an attentive father high marks for coziness: “When your ball blows across the sand and into the ocean and starts to drift away, your daddy could say, Didn’t I tell you not to play too close to the waves? But he doesn’t. He wades out into the cold water. And he brings your ball back to the beach and plays roll and catch with you.” Alley depicts a moppet and her relaxed-looking dad (to all appearances a single parent) in informally drawn beach and domestic settings: playing together, snuggling up on the sofa and finally hugging each other goodnight. The third-person voice is a bit distancing, but it makes the togetherness less treacly, and Dad’s mix of love and competence is less insulting, to parents and children both, than Douglas Wood’s What Dads Can’t Do (2000), illus by Doug Cushman. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: May 23, 2005

ISBN: 0-618-00361-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FRINDLE FILES
by Andrew Clements ; illustrated by Brian Selznick

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FRIENDSHIP WAR
by Andrew Clements

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOSERS CLUB
by Andrew Clements

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GROWING HOME

by Beth Ferry ; illustrated by Eric Fan & Terry Fan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 2025

Charming.

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An assortment of unusual characters form friendships and help each other become their best selves.

Mr. and Mrs. Tupper, who live at Number 3 Ramshorn Drive, are antiquarians. Their daughter, Jillian, loves and cares for a plant named Ivy, who has “three speckles on each leaf and three letters in her name.” Toasty, the grumpy goldfish, lives in an octagonal tank and wishes he were Jillian’s favorite; when Arthur the spider arrives inside an antique desk, he brings wisdom and insight. Ollie the violet plant, Louise the bee, and Sunny the canary each arrive with their own quirks and problems to solve. Each character has a distinct personality and perspective; sometimes they clash, but more often they learn to empathize, see each other’s points of view, and work to help one another. They also help the Tupper family with bills and a burglar. The Fan brothers’ soft-edged, old-fashioned, black-and-white illustrations depict Toasty and Arthur with tiny hats; Ivy and Ollie have facial expressions on their plant pots. The Tuppers have paper-white skin and dark hair. The story comes together like a recipe: Simple ingredients combine, transform, and rise into something wonderful. In its matter-of-fact wisdom, rich vocabulary (often defined within the text), hint of magic, and empathetic nonhuman characters who solve problems in creative ways, this delightful work is reminiscent of Ferris by Kate DiCamillo, Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo, and Ivy Lost and Found by Cynthia Lord and Stephanie Graegin.

Charming. (Fiction. 6-9)