Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol - Softcover

Trina Schart Hyman received the Caldecott Medal for Saint George and the Dragon, retold by Margaret Hodges, and Caldecott Honor awards for A Child's Calendar by John Updike, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric A. Kimmel, and Little Red Riding Hood, which she retold herself. She lives in New Hampshire near her daughter, Katrin.

Grade 5-9?Ten superbly retold Hershel of Ostropol tales, many of which are unavailable in popular collections. In "What Hershel's Father Did," Kimmel resurrects Hershel's reputation from that presented in Jacqueline D. Greene's What His Father Did (Houghton, 1992). "Money from a Table" and "The Candlesticks" are variations on a similar scheme: taking advantage of a miser's greed. "Potatoes!" is similar to Vicky Shiefman's Sunday Potatoes, Monday Potatoes (S.&S, 1994); but where that version is sweet, Kimmel's is ironic. The funniest tale by far is "The Miracle," a commentary on the misplaced values of a community that has money to pay for a burial, but not for keeping a starving family alive. "An Incredible Story" and "The Cow" play out the tricky relationships between the Jews of Eastern Europe and their Christian neighbors, both nobles and peasants alike. "The Cow" is similar to Isaac Bashevis Singer's story of the goat that didn't give milk. A black-and-white vignette adorns each selection. The book closes with more of Hershel's sayings, redolent with Yiddish humor.?Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY
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