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THE TREASURE

Name: THE TREASURE
Author: Uri Shulevitz
ISBN: 0374479550

illustrated by Uri Shulevitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1979

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As Jacobs tells it in "The Pedlar of Swaffham" and two 1971 picture-book versions set forth, a poor man is directed by a dream to London Bridge, where a shopkeeper dismissively recites his dream of a treasure buried in the traveler's own back yard. Here the dreamer is a poor old man named Isaac (Jewish? Shulevitz doesn't say), the setting indefinite (just "a bridge by the Royal Palace"), and instead of a church the man builds an unspecified "house of prayer" in Thanksgiving. What Shulevitz gives up in cultural specificity he apparently seeks to gain in a kind of generalized holiness; his lovely colors glow with what might well be taken for celestial light. But, a child might ask—the house of prayer notwithstanding—what's so holy about going off and back for a treasure? And, visually, what's so interesting about a solitary old man walking through forests and mountains and then back again to his own cramped street? Without the associations of a particular faith or setting, we have only the old man's conclusion: "Sometimes one must travel far to discover what is near"—a message unlikely to ring bells at the picture-book level.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1979

ISBN: 0374479550

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1979

Categories:

CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE SKY WAS MY BLANKET
by Uri Shulevitz ; illustrated by Uri Shulevitz

- BOOK REVIEW
CHANCE
by Uri Shulevitz

- BOOK REVIEW
TROTO AND THE TRUCKS
by Uri Shulevitz ; illustrated by Uri Shulevitz

- IN THE NEWS
Children’s Author Uri Shulevitz Dies at 89

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MIRACLE ON 133RD STREET

by Sonia Manzano ; illustrated by Marjorie Priceman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2015

A scrumptious treat to be savored and enjoyed, just like a fine holiday dinner.

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On Christmas Eve, a large apartment house on 133rd Street in the Bronx becomes the site of a multicultural neighborhood party.

Manzano, a Pura Belpré honoree and Maria on Sesame Street, teams up with Caldecott honoree Priceman for this vibrant story. The setting is the apartment of a Puerto Rican family preparing their special Christmas Eve dinner. Mami is trying to cook a huge roast, but it won’t fit in her small oven. Papi and José decide to take the roast to their friend who owns a pizzeria to see if he can help. On their way, they meet several neighbors and friends of different ages and ethnic groups; all are stressed, lonely, or worried about money. When the father and son return with the cooked roast, its delicious aroma transforms everyone who smells it, wafting them along on swirls of contented delight. They all float up the stairs to the apartment for a Christmas Eve dinner, fitting everyone into just one small apartment—a Christmas miracle. The polished text uses dramatic pacing, dialogue, emotion, and characterization to excellent effect. Priceman’s dazzling illustrations are filled with pulsating energy, glowing colors, and the radiant smiles of the neighbors who find community together. A magical, hopeful vitality permeates the art, reflected in multiple swirling elements wound through the illustrations.

A scrumptious treat to be savored and enjoyed, just like a fine holiday dinner. (Picture book. 4-9)

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-689-87887-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS | CHILDREN'S RELIGIOUS FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
COMING UP CUBAN
by Sonia Manzano

- BOOK REVIEW
A WORLD TOGETHER
by Sonia Manzano

- BOOK REVIEW
BECOMING MARIA
by Sonia Manzano

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THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

From the Chronicles of Narnia series , Vol. 1

by C.S. Lewis & illustrated by Pauline Baynes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 1950

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Although metaphysical rumblings may disturb adults, this wily symbolism-studded fantasy should appeal to children of an imaginative turn. While exploring an old English mansion, the four children—Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy—discover through passing into a wardrobe, the strange land of Narnia, where it is winter without ever becoming Christmas. The children soon are swept up in the terror of the rule of the White Witch, fighting with the other subjects—all animals—and the glorious Lion, Asian, who brings spring and hope with him. In spite of the White Witch's terrific enslavement of Edmund, her horrid power, which changes living things to stone, and the sacrificial death of Aslan, the forces of light win, the children are made kings and queens, and Asian returns to life. The plot thickens to a pretty heavy pudding at the end, but the prose is witty and the novel action is fast-moving. Not recommended for adults!