With more story, as well as more craft and substance, than in Beverly Brodsky McDermott's histrionic picture-book version (1976), this tells of Rabbi Leib of Prague and the golem he created to save a banker and other ghetto Jews from execution for false charges. The golem accomplishes the task he's charged with, but then refuses to bend down and allow the rabbi to erase from his forehead the name of God that gives him life. Because the rabbi has given in to his wife's pleas to use the golem for an unauthorized though charitable purpose, he has lost the power over his creation. Without dramatics, Singer makes a proper mythic melodrama of the early trial, bringing out the historical and elemental reality of the climate of injustice; and his account of the golem's subsequent misdeeds and confusion is all the more effective for reading like an unadorned record. This is strong material, and Singer shrewdly recognizes the psychological and philosophical reverberations without underlining, elaborating, or deviating from the straight account. (The only explicit speculation comes in the dosing suggestion that perhaps love—here the housemaid Miriam's for the golem—"has even more power than a Holy Name.") Shulevitz' black-and-white chiaroscuro illustrations, on the other hand, give the events a remote and serious look and emphasize the monumental lifelessness of the golem. One longs for a glint of life or expression somewhere—but the legend can support Shulevitz' approach.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1982
ISBN: 0374427461
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1982
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sequel to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) takes Eustace Scrubb, who went with the Pevensie children on their last voyage to the make believe land of Narnia, on a return trip—his time with a school friend Jill. In Narnia, Aslan the friendly lion commissions them to hunt for lost prince Rilian. After adventures with enchantresses and monsters, they find the prince, return to their hated school (which by way of sounding off against "progressive education," Mr. Lewis has described as a place full of trumped-up psychological problems) and as if by magic change it for the better. English fantasy we hope some young Americans may fancy.
Pub Date: Oct. 6, 1953
ISBN: 0064409457
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1953
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
