Something From Nothing [Hardcover]

Phoebe Gilman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1993 | Age Range: 8 and up

A modern adaptation of this favorite Jewish folktale describes how the blanket grandfather had made for young Joseph is transformed over the years into a jacket, a button, and, ultimately, a story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Joseph was a baby, his grandfather made him a shimmering blue blanket adorned with the moon and stars. As the boy grows and the blanket wears out, the old tailor recycles it, in succession fashioning a jacket, a vest, a tie and, finally, a cloth-covered button. But when Joseph loses the button, even his grandfather cannot make something from nothing. With its judicious repetition and internal rhymes, this thoughtfully presented Jewish folktale will captivate readers right through the ending, in which the boy discovers one last incarnation for his beloved keepsake. Although her renderings of human faces border on cartoonishness, Gilman's ( The Wonderful Pigs of Jillian Jiggs ) oil-glazed tempera paintings suggest the vivid world of Joseph's shtetl, with full-page cutaway illustrations recording the multileveled activity in Joseph's house. In an imaginative visual stroke, the bottom of each spread features the beneath-the-floorboards doings of a family of mice whose domestic life--from new births to Sabbath dinners to the outfitting of their entire home in discarded swatches of the blue blanket--winsomely mirrors Joseph's own. Ages 5-11.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3-This tale drawn from Jewish folklore has been told in many variations, but never so richly. It is a story of relationships, trust, transformations, and optimism, as well as being an entree to Jewish history in Eastern Europe of the 19th-20th century. Grandpa trims away the worn parts of Joseph's baby blanket and uses it to make him a jacket in the first of its many transformations into ever smaller items: a vest, a tie, a handkerchief, and a button as each item in turn becomes worn. When the button is lost, Joseph declares: "'There is just enough material here to make...a wonderful story!'" The story is told with repetitive, rhythmic phrases that children will soon anticipate and join in on. Using colored pencils, watercolors, and possibly other media, Gilman has created a shtetl in a book. Each oversized wood-framed page draws readers closely into the town or into Joseph's house and also below its floor where the mice use each discarded scrap to furnish their own snug home. Shades of warm brown, rust, and gold, accented with bright blue, lend a feeling of nostalgia. Gilman's art is subtle with painterly shading, a skillful use of light and dark, and expressive line. Each page is beautifully composed. While some of the folk characters' expressions are exaggerated, this is, after all, supposed to be funny.
Marcia Posner, Federation of New York and the Jewish Book Council, New York City
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press; No Edition Stated edition (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590472801
• ISBN-13: 978-0590472807
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #128,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully repetetive book February 7, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I used this book in a daycare class of two and three year-olds. It's great!! The repetition gets children involved actively with the story and the artistry keeps children busy looking for all sorts of details. Wonderful book for children of all ages.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 8 year-old from North Bend May 2, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I gave this book five stars because it had really good word choice and it reminded me of a blanket I used to have. I would recommend it to 7 year-olds or older. It is my favorite book. I have read it 25 times.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting! November 14, 2002

By A. Lord

Format:Hardcover

There are many versions of this story in print (it is a classic Yiddish story) but Gilman's version is far and away the best.
Joseph, a wonderfully drawn character, receives a beautiful blanket from his grandfather. As he ages, the blanket is transformed into a jacket, a vest, a scarf etc.
The prose is very well-done and very lively with lots of repetition which will please children and their parents. The illustrations, however, really make this book. They are fantastic! The world of the shtetl really comes to life in these detailed drawings (in fact, living in a shtetl actually looks pretty good which is an amazing accomplishment!).
I have given this book to friends and family---both Jewish and non-Jewish and everyone has loved it. Buy it, find a blanket and curl up with a child to read this one!