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THE WIND THAT WANTED TO REST by Sheldon Oberman

THE WIND THAT WANTED TO REST

by Sheldon Oberman & illustrated by Neil Waldman

Pub Date: March 1st, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59078-858-5
Publisher: Boyds Mills

Wind, old and tired, searches for a resting place.

Worn out from all his years of scurrying about, Wind searches through forests, mountains and villages for a place to lay down his weary self. Nothing and no one wants him because of the cold and danger that he brings. Wind is driven to anger and to storm by these rejections until a young girl offers the “dark, dry, quiet place underneath our house.” Her kindness sustains him until springtime, when he leaves. But not before he bestows a lasting gift on the girl and her family—a cool space to find respite from hot summers. Oberman, a noted Canadian teacher, author and storyteller wrote this story in the style of a folktale and called it a “Jewish tale from Soviet Russia.” However, in her afterword, gifted storyteller Peninnah Schram writes that despite careful research, she could find no references in any scholarly resources, although stories about the wind exist in folklore from many lands. This one stands as a quiet lesson in doing good deeds and being a good neighbor. Waldman’s soft watercolor illustrations are almost entirely in shades of blue and evoke a vaguely eastern European landscape with mythical overtones.

A quiet story with lessons to teach about benevolence.

(afterword) (Picture book. 4-7)