You can never have too many golems when they provide this much entertaining reading fun.
A well-meaning troublemaker gets unexpected help.
Abi, the rabbi’s son, may make mischief, but it’s always inadvertent. He once stole a bagel from the deli, but he was engrossed in his comic book and forgot to pay. He once said a bad word to his Hebrew teacher—but he didn’t know it was wrong. Abi does intentionally steal an old, tattered scroll from the synagogue basement. He needs it for Hebrew practice and figures nobody will miss it. Although he doesn’t know the meaning of the words on the scroll, he reads them repeatedly; he doesn’t realize that they summon monsters! When Abi hears house-shaking knocks on the door, he opens and sees…10 golems, the gigantic legendary clay men of Jewish folklore, ready to fight. (Abi knows about golems, but usually only one arrives.) Abi explains that his only battle is with the Hebrew language. So the golems tutor him each week and teach him golem songs and stories. At his bar mitzvah seven years later, Abi’s Hebrew is perfect. The golems attend, dance afterward, and vanish the next day. Featuring an endearing, relatable protagonist, this tongue-in-cheek story turns a familiar legend on its ear. The lively illustrations, often appearing as vignettes, were created with pastel pencils and wax crayons. Abi is redheaded and bespectacled, with skin the white of the page; the golems are more bloblike than fearsome.
You can never have too many golems when they provide this much entertaining reading fun. (information on Rabbi Loew and his golem) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781797212142
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests.
A lonely prince gains a friend for a quest to find a missing jewel.
Prince Lucas of Wrenly has everything a boy could possibly want—except a friend. His father has forbidden him to play with the village children for reasons of propriety. Adventure-seeking Lucas acquires peasant clothes to masquerade as a commoner and make friends, but he is caught out. His mother, the queen, persuades the king to allow him one friend: Clara, the daughter of her personal dressmaker. When the queen’s prized emerald pendant goes missing, Lucas and Clara set off to find it. They follow the jewel as it changes hands, interviewing each temporary owner. Their adventure cleverly introduces the series’ world and peoples, taking the children to the fairy island of Primlox, the trolls’ home of Burth, the wizard island of Hobsgrove and finally Mermaid’s Cove. By befriending the mermaids, Lucas and Clara finally recover the jewel. In thanks, the king gives Clara a horse of her own so that she may ride with Lucas on their future adventures. The third-person narration is generally unobtrusive, allowing the characters to take center stage. The charming, medieval-flavored illustrations set the fairy-tale scene and take up enough page space that new and reluctant readers won’t be overwhelmed by text.
A gentle adventure that sets the stage for future quests. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-9691-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
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