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Library | Material Type | Call Number | Child Count | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Branch | Juvenile Book | J B ALEIC, S | 1 | Juvenile Biography | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Branch | Juvenile Book | J B SHOLEM ALEICHEM | 1 | Juvenile Biography | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Searching... Central | Book | J B AL25S | 1 | Juvenile Biography | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
The boy whose stories became Fiddler on the Roof
Sholom Aleichem's favorite childhood memory may have been listening as his father read stories aloud on Saturday nights and a roomful of adults burst out laughing. Sholom wanted to make people laugh, too. At school he became the class clown. At home he imitated even his pious grandmother. But Sholom was also thoughtful. In Russia in the 1800s, life was especially difficult for Jews, and Sholom longed to help his father by finding a legendary hidden treasure. It turned out that Sholom Aleichem's destiny was to give his father a different kind of treasure - one of words and tales that to this day bring laughter to readers around the world.
This taut, focused biography of the young Sholom Aleichem is animated with the artist's quick, brilliant line and richly toned watercolors.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-This enchanting picture-book biography is an affectionate ode to the iconic Yiddish writer, presenting his early life as a series of stories laced with both humor and pathos. One of 12 children growing up in a small Russian village in the mid-19th century, young Sholom watched intently as his beloved father charmed the neighbors with humorous tales. The youth concluded that laughter and stories had the power to overcome worry and bring genuine happiness to the listener. Bored with his lessons and looking to create his own laughter, Sholom became the class clown, and dreamed of the treasures he could bestow upon his parents, whose life in the shtetl grew increasingly difficult. Yet even the displacement of his family and the death of his mother from cholera could not dampen Sholom's interest in the power of words. He used both his keen sense of observation and his notable intellect to accumulate experiential treasures that later informed his writing, including a fascinating array of insults thrown at him by his shrewish stepmother. Silverman's text combines a storyteller's narrative with dialogue based on Aleichem's own words, resulting in a biography that often reads like a folktale. Gerstein's energetic watercolor-and-ink illustrations bubble over with humor as the mischievous young Sholom mimics and mocks, his expressive face a constantly changing barometer of life's ups and downs. The result is a seamless collaboration that presents not only the life, but also the world, of a literary giant.-Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Silverman (The Halloween House) and Caldecott Medalist Gerstein (The Man Who Walked Between the Towers) make an ideal pairing for this picture-book biography of Yiddish luminary Sholom Aleichem (born Rabinowitz. 1859-1916), whose work inspired Fiddler on the Roof (as explained in an author's note). Sholom's father, "his brow usually furrowed with worry," looks happy when he reads to his guests at the family's Saturday night parties. "And when Father was happy, Sholom was happy." Silverman thus sets the stage for Sholom's quest to please his beloved father. In the process, the boy discovers a gift for mimicry, and a thirst for stories. Gerstein's comic strip-style images of the hero aping his teacher, grandmother and others comically demonstrate the fellow's talents. Poverty drives Sholom's family of 14 from their small shtetl, his mother dies of cholera, and his father marries a shrew, yet Sholom remains upbeat. Silverman's accessible prose keeps a narrative dense with incidents and people moving along briskly. Gerstein's fluid, exuberant pen-and-ink and watercolor wash illustrations, which frequently appear as panels above and below the text, literally illuminate the story. The artist does not soft-pedal the sorrows of Jewish life under the Czar; the oppressiveness feels real and the scenes of the mother's death and its aftermath are heartrending. Gerstein beautifully conveys how a rich inner life and keen observational powers sustain Sholom, and shape him into an artist. Ages 5-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Primary, Intermediate) Mordicai Gerstein's loose, scratchy pen seems just right to illustrate the story of the great Yiddish comic writer's Russian childhood. Mischievous Sholom's spirited personality comes alive both in Gerstein's drawings and Silverman's fluent text. As a small boy watching his father entertain guests by reading aloud, Sholom ""wished he could make people laugh"" and he looks forward to Jewish school ""where he would learn how to read and write."" At school, Sholom discovers his talents for mimicry, and soon he's known as the class clown, as well as a ""monkey"" and a ""scoundrel"" at home. As Silverman recounts Sholom's evolution as a writer, Gerstein delights in side-by-side panel illustrations that show Sholom aping his classmates, teachers, and relatives. Despite persistent hard times -- his best friend moves away, Sholom and his family leave their beloved home, his mother dies -- Sholom does not lose his zest for living and for writing about life. An author's note, an afterword, and a bibliography round out this engaging portrait of a man who asked in his will that his name ""be recalled with laughter."" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A picture-book biography of Sholom Aleichem focuses not on his work as an adult, but on how the child grew to become the writer. Young Sholom Rabinowitz admires his father's ability to make others laugh, and quickly learns that he shares it--though it frequently gets him into trouble. As the family moves from a shtetl to a larger town, accumulating 12 children, and a stepmother after Sholom's mother dies, the child hones his talents of mimicry and wordplay, collecting his stepmother's colorful insults and beginning to write on his own. Silverman's text moves quickly, using dialogue adapted from Aleichem's own memoir and focusing on Sholom's desire to make his father proud--to present him with a treasure. Gerstein's loose lines and bright colors bristle with energy and humor, presenting a wide-eyed boy who nevertheless possesses a wicked sense of fun, as he assumes the characters of those around him--who will later take on literary life in his stories. Although most in the audience will be unfamiliar with Aleichem, they will identify with the child's dual wishes to please his father and to excel. (author's note, afterword, sources) (Picture book/biography. 5-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. The name Sholom Aleichem may be familiar to only a few children, but the story of this young imp, who was determined to do his father proud, will strike a chord with many. Born Sholom Rabinowitz, he was 1 of 12 children living in a Russian shtetl. One of his earliest memories was listening to his father read humorous stories aloud. But life wasn't funny or easy for the family--his father's business failed, and his mother's death led to the presence of an unpleasant stepmother. Yet the boy found fun in just about everything. A clown, a reader, and, eventually, a talented writer, he used the people and places he knew as a basis of his popular stories. Silverman keeps her focus on the things about Aleichem's life that will appeal most to young readers: his sense of the absurd, his railings against life's injustices, and his determination to follow his dreams. Caldecott winner Gerstein's ink-and-watercolor paintings appear as full-page art and strips of illustration, both of which are equally adept at capturing the pathos and absurdities of everyday life. As in Aleichem's own stories, there's a universality here that transcends the borders of time and place. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2005 Booklist