7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
To life!, January 30, 2006
This review is from: Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer (Hardcover)
Illustrator Mordicai Gerstein never ceases to amuse me. Sometimes his pictures are too loosey-goosey to hold my attention (as with any of the books he's illustrated for Elizabeth Levy) while other times he bowls me over with his originality and spice (as with the adorable "Seal Mother"). I did not, on the outset, have high hopes for "Sholom's Treasure", I admit. Sure I knew the name Sholom Aleichem. That's the fella who wrote the stories that "Fiddler On the Roof" was based on, yes? But how interesting could a children's biography of him be? I'm not a huge biography fan to begin with. Seems to me that most picture book bios are deathly dull David A. Adler-like affairs. The are usually the perfect way to put the kiddies to sleep. Fortunately there are smash-hit artists like Erica Silverman and the aforementioned Mr. Gerstein to put me in my place whenever I think this way. "Sholom's Treasure" is definitely one of Gerstein's best books, helped in no small way by Silverman's skill at winnowing out a slice of the great man's life that makes for a fabulous story. Evil stepmothers, a treasure, hardship, glory, putting a bully in his place, it's all here! Best of all, it's the kind of thing kids will actually want to hear about.
He was born Sholom Rabinowitz and was one of twelve children. He lived in Russia in 1859 and attended kheyder like the other boys. Though a fabulous student, Sholom was also a class clown. Mimicry was his talent though nobody appreciated it as much as he would have liked. In his spare time he and his friend Shmulik would discuss how to locate a treasure that they were sure was buried under a nearby hill. Unfortunately the family had to move soon thereafter and then Sholom's mother died. When his father remarried, the new stepmother was not exactly a kindly sort. Still, Sholom was able to have a fair amount of small adventures and triumphs in his own way. In the end, he realized exactly what kind of treasure it was that he would someday present to his father. He was going to be a writer. An Afterword describes how Sholom spent the rest of his life, the number of works he created (more than six thousand stories, essays, plays and novels) and where and when he died. There is also a particularly well written list of Sources and Archival material used by Silverman to tell this truly interesting tale.
Usually I do not trust award winners. This particular story won the 2006 Sydney Taylor Book Award and so I picked it up with the faintest moue of apprehension gracing my lips. I mean, award winners tend to have one thing in common - they're dull dull deathly deadly dull. And winners of awards for a specific ethnic or religious minority have such a small pool to pull from to begin with that often I find myself deeply disappointed with what I find. "Sholom's Treasure" breaks that rule squarely in two and does so with a kind of manic glee. The glee can be attributed directly to two participants - Silverman and Gerstein. Let's take Silverman for a start. It's really remarkably difficult to take a famous figure, condense their life (or, in this case, a portion of their life) into picture book size with simple words AND give the tale a beginning, a middle, and an end. This she has done beautifully. We read about Sholom wanting to dig up a mysterious treasure so that he could present it to his family. Later, he realizes what the true treasure he could present could be. Along the way we get to read funny little anecdotes, such as the time Sholom copied down his step-mother's insults and curses into a compiled (and alphabetized) dictionary entitled, "The Sharp Tongue of the Stepmother". Little humorous touches like this one give the book a depth that few children's book biographies achieve.
Then there is Mr. Gerstein's work. As I mentioned before, I'm never sure if I'm going to like what he does from book to book. I enjoyed, "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers", but I had a hard time figuring out whether or not the art was good enough for the story. No such wavering exists with "Sholom". Gerstein has given his hero particularly bright blue eyes and some yellow curls that make him easy to find even in group settings. When Sholom is described as mimicking someone, we see split panels where the "victim" does something and then Sholom does the same thing, only goofier. There's a truly enjoyable sequence where Sholom stands fascinated by his stepmother's curses. In brightly colored squares we see each curse turned to its literal visible equivalent. There's a picture of Sholom covered in worms for "May worms eat you!" and Sholom in various pieces for "May you ache and break!". To my chagrin, publishers like Farrar, Straus & Giroux don't seem to care to mention the artistic process their illustrators use to make their pictures on their publication pages anymore. A Publisher's Weekly review once said that the book used pen & ink and watercolor washes to create the pictures. I don't have anything to back this information up with, so I guess we'll just have to trust PW on this one.
The Author's Note at the beginning of the book clears up quite a few misconceptions of its own. I was delighted to find that Sholom's pen name (Sholom Aleichem) was a kind of play on words. He changed his last name to the humorous "Aleichem" so that every time you said his title in full you were basically saying "peace be with you" in Yiddish. I also appreciated that there was a note at the beginning mentioning that, "The dialogue in this book is based on Sholom Aleichem's own words as they appear in his autobiography, `From the Fair'". That's just in case you were worried that Silverman made some of this stuff up.
The book has received two awards as of this review (the aforementioned Sidney Taylor and the New York Public Library's 100 Titles For Reading and Sharing) and has been given glowing reviews by at least nine legitimate review resources. It may sound greedy, but I wish more people knew about it. It's a pity it didn't garner itself a Caldecott Honor, but that's the way it goes sometimes. In any case, it's a lovely little book and an even cleverer pairing of selective story and finely honed artwork. A treasure for people of every culture and persuasion.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A LIFE LESSON IN THIS STORY, March 5, 2005
This review is from: Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer (Hardcover)
In an opening author's note Erica Silverman tells of being taken to a Broadway production of "Fiddler On The Roof" by her grandmother. She writes that as she watched the musical she felt she was looking into the world of her grandmother's childhood. When she questioned her grandmother after the playing, saying she wanted to learn more, the reply was "Read Sholom Aleichem." That's on the spot advice for all.
Born in Russia in 1859 as Sholom Rabinowitz, he became known as Sholom Aleichem, "a Yiddish greeting that means `Peace be with you.'" There was very little peace to be found in his turbulent childhood, but as the author notes, although he was quite cognizant of the difficulties and deprivation around him he was somehow able to see humor in almost any situation. And, he believed that "laughter was healthy, even necessary, to survival." Anyone who has seen "Fiddler On The Roof," which is based on his stories knows the truth of that statement.
One of 12 children, Aleichem loved to hear his father read stories, and he thoroughly enjoyed watching the pleasure this gave to others. Evidently, he, too, decided he wanted to make others happy so he became a bit of a clown, an accomplished mimic. However, it wasn't too long before greater hardships visited his small village, Voronko. His father lost his share of a business, and the family moved to Pereyaslav, a veritable city with wooden sidewalks. Once there, his parents bought a rather dilapidated inn.
Two months after Aleichem's bar mitzvah a cholera epidemic enveloped Pereyslav, and his mother died. What would become of his family now?
Erica Silverman has crafted a trenchant, thoughtful biography, and it is illustrated by the incomparable Mordicai Gerstein. Last year's Caldecott Medal winner, his pictures are often humorous, always touching.
We learn that in Aleichem's will he asked that his name "be recalled with laughter." It is - with laughter and gratitude.
- Gail Cooke
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Book for Everyone!, June 21, 2006
This review is from: Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer (Hardcover)
This winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award for Young Readers is just charming and works on many levels. Mordecai Gerstein's illustrations complement the text perfectly. It is a biography for younger readers; a story reminiscent of a fairy tale with a mean step-mother and a dreams that comes true; and a lesson that you will succeed if you pursue your passion.
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