“By writing [Jewish stories] for Jewish children, I find that they appeal equally to non-Jewish children,” (Kimmel, 2003).
In order to complete a book review of Jewish children’s literature, I chose two picture books to critically analyze. The first of the two is The Chanukkah Guest by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Giora Carmi (1988) which won the Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award.
I was first struck by the title of this text because of Kimmel’s spelling of ‘Chanukkah.’ I wonder why he chose this spelling while using ‘Hanukkah’ for his 1998 book When Mindy Saved Hanukkah and the 1989 Caldecott Honor Medal winner Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. The different spellings come from the transliterating Hebrew letters into English. Hanukkah became the most common spelling form because the “CH” sound does not exist in modern English, (Wikipedia). Both variants are used in North America, therefore, I must assume that Kimmel’s decision is based upon personal preference.
This book describes how Bubba Brayna mistakes Old Bear for the rabbi. It is quite humorous how Old Bear, driven by hunger, arrives at Bubba Brayna’s house and is, subsequently invited in because of the latter’s sight and hearing deficiencies. On this first night of Chanukkah Old Bear eats all of the potato latkes which Bubba Brayna has prepared for the rabbi and the community. In turn the community bands together to remake enough latkes for everyone to enjoy. I found the story especially funny when Bubba Brayna mistakes Old Bear’s growling and actions as that of the rabbi’s. “’Grrrrurrrr.’ Old Bear licked Bubba Brayna’s face. Bubba Brayna blushed. ‘Oh, Rabbi! At my age!’ (Kimmel 19).
This text functions as an accurate text in the Jewish community. It contains “positive Jewish content and focus.” In her article “Judging Judaica: A Librarian Offers Tips for Evaluating Books of Jewish Content,” Linda Silver describes that this description aids the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee in determining its candidates. “If Jewish questions underlie or animate the theme and the author seeks to answer them in a Jewish context, then the book has ‘positive Jewish content and focus,’” (Silver 44).
The cultural accuracy of this book is firstly illustrated by Kimmel’s inclusion of a glossary of Jewish terminology used in the text. At the beginning of the book he lists four terms (Bubba, dreidel, latke, and menorah) and their definitions. This list deepens the reader’s understanding of the plot as well as the Jewish tradition of Chanukkah. Previous to reading this text, I did not understand that “Bubba” means grandmother and “latke” is a potato pancake. Secondly, Kimmel includes Jewish cultural traditions such as lighting the menorah, (11) and playing dreidel, (13).
The second text which I chose to review is The Sukkah That I Built by Rochel Groner Vorst and illustrated by Elizabeth Victor-Elsby, (2002).
I was drawn to this book as I had no prior understanding of sukkahs. Also, the title appears to be a play on the Mother Goose nursery rhyme “This is the House that Jack Built” which I was introduced to as a child. According to author James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips, this rhyme originated as a Hebrew hymn in Sepher Haggadah. Vorst’s text follows the sing-song rhythm of Mother Goose’s rhyme by beginning with one object, continuously adding more objects, and naming them one by one until the reader is once again at the beginning object. The main character, a young boy of about eight years old, describes how he and his family build a sukkah with poles, schach, a hammer, nails, boards, and a ladder, (Vorst 15-16).
The first way in which Vorst lends to a Jewish cultural accuracy is by citing a Torah verse at the beginning of the story. “’In booths you shall dwell for seven days’ (Leviticus 23:42)” followed by its Hebrew transcription indicates the importance of the sukkah to the Jewish culture. Second, Vorst includes a glossary at the end of the text which defines schach and sukkah. She also describes the Jewish holiday of Sukkos or Sukkot in a short text at the end of the story. Vorst’s text is an accurate depiction of Jewish culture as she is an “insider” author.
Like Kimmel’s text, Vorst’s added to my knowledge of Jewish culture and tradition. Whereas I have not previously understood the Jewish holiday of Sukkos and its traditions, reading The Sukkah That I Built has informed me of them.
Works Cited:
Halliwell-Phillips, J.O. The Nursery Rhymes of England. New York: F. Warne and Co.,
(1886).
Kimmel, Eric A. The Chanukkah Guest. New York: Holiday House, (1988).
Kimmel, Eric A. “Joy on Beale Street.” The Lion and the Unicorn 27, (2003): 410-415.
Silver, Linda R. “Judging Judaica: A Librarian Offers Tips for Evaluating Books of
Jewish Content.” School Library Journal 48, (Jan 2002): 44-45.
Vorst, Rochel Groner. The Sukkah That I Built. Brooklyn: Hachai Publishing, (2002).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#Alternative_spellings_based_on_transliterating_Hebrew_letters
In order to complete a book review of Jewish children’s literature, I chose two picture books to critically analyze. The first of the two is The Chanukkah Guest by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Giora Carmi (1988) which won the Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award.
I was first struck by the title of this text because of Kimmel’s spelling of ‘Chanukkah.’ I wonder why he chose this spelling while using ‘Hanukkah’ for his 1998 book When Mindy Saved Hanukkah and the 1989 Caldecott Honor Medal winner Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. The different spellings come from the transliterating Hebrew letters into English. Hanukkah became the most common spelling form because the “CH” sound does not exist in modern English, (Wikipedia). Both variants are used in North America, therefore, I must assume that Kimmel’s decision is based upon personal preference.This book describes how Bubba Brayna mistakes Old Bear for the rabbi. It is quite humorous how Old Bear, driven by hunger, arrives at Bubba Brayna’s house and is, subsequently invited in because of the latter’s sight and hearing deficiencies. On this first night of Chanukkah Old Bear eats all of the potato latkes which Bubba Brayna has prepared for the rabbi and the community. In turn the community bands together to remake enough latkes for everyone to enjoy. I found the story especially funny when Bubba Brayna mistakes Old Bear’s growling and actions as that of the rabbi’s. “’Grrrrurrrr.’ Old Bear licked Bubba Brayna’s face. Bubba Brayna blushed. ‘Oh, Rabbi! At my age!’ (Kimmel 19).
This text functions as an accurate text in the Jewish community. It contains “positive Jewish content and focus.” In her article “Judging Judaica: A Librarian Offers Tips for Evaluating Books of Jewish Content,” Linda Silver describes that this description aids the Sydney Taylor Book Award committee in determining its candidates. “If Jewish questions underlie or animate the theme and the author seeks to answer them in a Jewish context, then the book has ‘positive Jewish content and focus,’” (Silver 44).
The cultural accuracy of this book is firstly illustrated by Kimmel’s inclusion of a glossary of Jewish terminology used in the text. At the beginning of the book he lists four terms (Bubba, dreidel, latke, and menorah) and their definitions. This list deepens the reader’s understanding of the plot as well as the Jewish tradition of Chanukkah. Previous to reading this text, I did not understand that “Bubba” means grandmother and “latke” is a potato pancake. Secondly, Kimmel includes Jewish cultural traditions such as lighting the menorah, (11) and playing dreidel, (13).
The second text which I chose to review is The Sukkah That I Built by Rochel Groner Vorst and illustrated by Elizabeth Victor-Elsby, (2002).
I was drawn to this book as I had no prior understanding of sukkahs. Also, the title appears to be a play on the Mother Goose nursery rhyme “This is the House that Jack Built” which I was introduced to as a child. According to author James Orchard Halliwell-Phillips, this rhyme originated as a Hebrew hymn in Sepher Haggadah. Vorst’s text follows the sing-song rhythm of Mother Goose’s rhyme by beginning with one object, continuously adding more objects, and naming them one by one until the reader is once again at the beginning object. The main character, a young boy of about eight years old, describes how he and his family build a sukkah with poles, schach, a hammer, nails, boards, and a ladder, (Vorst 15-16).The first way in which Vorst lends to a Jewish cultural accuracy is by citing a Torah verse at the beginning of the story. “’In booths you shall dwell for seven days’ (Leviticus 23:42)” followed by its Hebrew transcription indicates the importance of the sukkah to the Jewish culture. Second, Vorst includes a glossary at the end of the text which defines schach and sukkah. She also describes the Jewish holiday of Sukkos or Sukkot in a short text at the end of the story. Vorst’s text is an accurate depiction of Jewish culture as she is an “insider” author.
Like Kimmel’s text, Vorst’s added to my knowledge of Jewish culture and tradition. Whereas I have not previously understood the Jewish holiday of Sukkos and its traditions, reading The Sukkah That I Built has informed me of them.
Works Cited:
Halliwell-Phillips, J.O. The Nursery Rhymes of England. New York: F. Warne and Co.,
(1886).
Kimmel, Eric A. The Chanukkah Guest. New York: Holiday House, (1988).
Kimmel, Eric A. “Joy on Beale Street.” The Lion and the Unicorn 27, (2003): 410-415.
Silver, Linda R. “Judging Judaica: A Librarian Offers Tips for Evaluating Books of
Jewish Content.” School Library Journal 48, (Jan 2002): 44-45.
Vorst, Rochel Groner. The Sukkah That I Built. Brooklyn: Hachai Publishing, (2002).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#Alternative_spellings_based_on_transliterating_Hebrew_letters
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