Hanukkah is approaching, the Rabbi’s out of town, and the villagers have forgotten how to celebrate, so they send Yossel to the next town to find out what the traditional observance entails. Yossel unknowingly ends up in a Christian town that’s in the midst of preparing for Christmas and learns that they observe “the holiday” with tree decorating. This jars a memory as Yossel recalls the festival of lights, while the man he meets tells him it’s more like the festival of presents, food, and the fat man in a velvet suit. Returning to his town, Yossel convinces everyone to prepare for Hanukkah by decorating a tree with matzo balls, dreidels, and menorahs and dressing the fat Shmuel in a blue velvet suit, “Oy, Oy, Oy.” The Rabbi returns to this uncertain scene, recounts the story of the Maccabees, and reminds the villagers of the traditional Hanukkah customs as they all celebrate together. Like Eric Kimmel’s The Chanukkah Tree (1988), this version attempts an unnecessary dual approach to the holiday season. Schindler’s comical rendition captures the Eastern European environment; however this is needless folly even for Chelm. (Folktales. 6-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-525-46969-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
A club-shaped pumpkin gets dissed by a customer, all the other pumpkins, even twisted apple trees, before the sight of a motley crop of hubbards, acorns and banana squash brings on a personal epiphany: “O my gosh / I’m a squash.” Endowed with a face and stick limbs, the gnarled narrator sits down at a Thanksgiving table with its new soulmates, then is last seen strolling down the lane hand in hand with a lumpy new friend. Written in doggerel—“A skeleton came for pumpkins / one bright and crispy day. / I asked if I could get a ride . . . / He laughed and said: No Way”—and illustrated in brightly colored paint-and-paper collage, this weak riff on the “Ugly Duckling” may not earn high marks for botanical accuracy (all pumpkins are squash), but it does feature plenty of visual flash. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-399-24267-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
In a snowbound Swiss village, Matti figures it’s a good day to make a gingerbread man. He and his mother mix a batch of gingerbread and tuck it in the oven, but Matti is too impatient to wait ten minutes without peeking. When he opens the door, out pops a gingerbread baby, taunting the familiar refrain, “Catch me if you can.” The brash imp races all over the village, teasing animals and tweaking the noses of the citizenry, until there is a fair crowd on his heels intent on giving him a drubbing. Always he remains just out of reach as he races over the winterscape, beautifully rendered with elegant countryside and architectural details by Brett. All the while, Matti is busy back home, building a gingerbread house to entice the nervy cookie to safe harbor. It works, too, and Matti is able to spirit the gingerbread baby away from the mob. The mischief-maker may be a brat, but the gingerbread cookie is also the agent of good cheer, and Brett allows that spirit to run free on these pages. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23444-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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