From School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-A delightful and satisfying tale celebrating the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. According to tradition, Jews are supposed to eat dairy foods to commemorate the day that Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai, and hardworking Sarah would love to make a mountain of cheese blintzes for her husband and five children. However, with such a large family to feed, she cannot afford to buy all the ingredients, until she comes up with an ingenious plan. For the two weeks preceding the holiday, she and her husband will each work a little extra, every day putting their additional earnings into a special coin box. With both of them saving a little each day, surely they will have enough by Shavuot. Of course, neither Sarah nor Max part with the extra coins, each rationalizing that the other will do so. Ultimately, it is their resourceful children who provide the ingredients for the celebratory mountain of blintzes. Loosely based on a traditional Chelm tale, this story is set in the Catskills in the late 1920s, providing a charming small-town locale for the sunny watercolor illustrations. Utilizing a bright, friendly palette and endearing pink-cheeked characters, the illustrations tell an amusing story within a story, as the children find their own ways to contribute to the Shavuot table. Background notes and recipe are included.-Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Ages 5-8. On their farm in the Catskills in the 1920s, Sarah and Max plan for Shavuot. It is a time for cleaning house, new clothes, and good food, especially blintzes. The couple agree to work hard and put their money into a coin box, saving for the family holiday. But one thing leads to another and neither saves any coins. Their children, however, are not leaving anything to chance. Clever visual clues in whimsical, full-page watercolor illustrations extend the story, showing the children secretly working at odd jobs to earn money. When Shavuot comes, the penniless parents are rescued by their giggling children, and they all celebrate together. The author's note provides details about this Jewish holiday and about the traditional Chelm stories that inspired this ebullient picture book. And there's also Goldin's family recipe for making the perfect mountain of blintzes.
Karen SimonettiCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
