Tikvah Means Hope [Hardcover]

Patricia Polacco (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up

Justine and Duane and their neighbors are happily getting ready for Sukkoth, the Jewish harvest holiday. Suddenly, catastrophe strikes as a fire sweeps through their town. Luckily for everyone, there are still miracles in this world--sometimes in the shape of a little cat. This heartfelt story is a stirring celebration of life, friendship, and--most of all--hope!


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Polacco's (Chicken Sunday) characteristically rich pencil and gouache artwork depict a neighborhood in her Oakland, Calif., hometown, showing how it weathered the devastating firestorms of 1992. Mr. Roth and his young neighbors Duane and Justine have built a Sukkah to celebrate Sukkoth, the Jewish festival of thanksgiving. But when the holiday begins, a hot wind breathes spreading brush fires into the Oakland hills. As flames engulf whole neighborhoods, hundreds of people must evacuate to nearby shelters. The Roths' pain is heightened when they cannot bring ther cat, Tikvah, to safety. When the families finally return home, they find only rubble. But the Sukkah, miraculously, stands unscathed. And, in another bit of good fortune, Tikvah also turns up. Polacco's ambitious story tries hard to accomplish many objectives. The combination of varied elements results in a rushed tone and uneven pacing, so that the religious or spiritual aspect seems particularly forced. Her drawings skillfully and emotionally convey the anguish of the suffering community, as well as its resilience and hopefulness. An author's note provides more factual information about the disaster. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Polacco recalls a terrible firestorm in Oakland, California, that consumed its hills, and describes two miracles that took place there. On the day before Sukkoth, Mr. Roth begins to build a Sukkah, which he explains to the two non-Jewish neighbor children who have come to help, is an outdoor hut built for the holiday, with a roof of open branches to recall the time the Jews wandered in the desert and lived in similar huts. That night, the children sleep in it, joined by Tikvah, the Roths' cat. The next morning something is awry. The sun is fiery orange and a strong hot wind has sprung up. The hills are on fire! Panic and confusion prevail, and families are evacuated. The fire burns for two days. Incredibly, the Sukkah was spared and Tikvah is found alive. Polacco's illustrations are dramatically expressive. She contrasts homey scenes of one day with the confusion, despair, and eventual ash gray caused by the destruction. These are followed by a night of redemption, the Sukkah standing untouched among the ashes, the neighbors illuminated in the light of a holiday candle, gathered to give thanks and to eat in the one standing structure. Polacco has provided Sukkoth with its own miracle.
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

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers (August 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385320590
• ISBN-13: 978-0385320597
• Product Dimensions: 13 x 10 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #322,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Religious Fiction > Jewish

More About the Author

Born Patricia Ann Barber in Lansing, Michigan, to parents of Russian and Ukrainian descent on one side and Irish on the other, Patricia Polacco grew up in both California and Michigan. Her school year was spent in Oakland, California, and summers in her beloved Michigan. She describes her family members as marvelous storytellers. "My fondest memories are of sitting around a stove or open fire, eating apples and popping corn while listening to the old ones tell glorious stories about their homeland and the past. We are tenacious traditionalists and sentimentalists.... With each retelling our stories gain a little more Umph!"Studying in the United States and Australia, Patricia Polacco has earned an M.F.A. and a Ph. D. in art history, specializing in Russian and Greek painting, and iconographic history. She is a museum consultant on the restoration of icons. As a participant in many citizen exchange programs for writers and illustrators, Patricia Polacco has traveled extensively in Russia as well as other former Soviet republics. She continues to support programs that encourage Russo-American friendships and understanding. She is also deeply involved in inner-city projects here in the U.S. that promote the peaceful resolution of conflict and encourage art and literacy programs.The mother of a grown son and a daughter, Patricia Polacco currently resides in Michigan, where she has a glorious old farm that was built during the time of Lincoln.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tikvah Means Hope, March 16, 2004

By 

elliot fein (Irvine, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tikvah Means Hope (Hardcover)

A sukkah is not a permanent structure but a temporary dwelling. A wind can easily blow a sukkah down, a rain can wash it away. Patricia Polacco tells an ironic tale in Tikvah Means Hope about how a natural disaster destroyed material possessions that people felt were permanent while a sukkah, something built only for a short time, persevered.

It is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Roth of Oakland, who build a sukkah in the backyard of their house. While they put up their ritual hut, two neighborhood children, Justine and Duane decide to help them in their task. In the process, Justine and Duane learn the meaning of the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot, a precursor to the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

"You see, we Jews have always had to move a lot," says Mr. Roth to the children. "We wandered in the desert for many years. Then at long last we found the promised Land and settled into real homes. Now we build these little huts to remind us of all the days we had no place to live, and also to give thanks for our new homes and rich harvest that our new land gave us."

For their efforts, the Roths invite Justine and Duane to sleep in their sukah and celebrate a festive meal in it. Before the children can take advantage of the hospitality, they are evacuated from their homes. A fire ravages their neighborhood burning their houses to the ground.

The Roths are devastated by the event. After the fire is put out,they search frantically among the ashes to find something that would prove they had a life here.

Just when the older man is about to lose all hope, Justine and Duane shout for him to come to the backyard. When Mr. Roth arrives, he sees one object still standing among the ashes: the sukkah. Mr. Roth can not believe his eyes. How could the sukkah not be damaged? How could the fire not consume it? His wife proclaims the occurrence a miracle.

The fact that the sukkah survives, however, is not the only miracle. When the Roths gather with their neighbors in the sukkah to celebrate the blessing of life, they hear a noise from the barbecue pit. Mr. Roth reaches down into it and pulls out their pet cat, Tikvah. The feline creature is hungry, tired and little singed but still alive.

TikvahMmeans Hope is based on a true story. In the fall of 1991, Patricia Polacco's home and those of 3,400 of her neighbors were ravaged by fire in her home of Oakland.

Tragedy happens on a random basis. Tikvah Means Hope emphasizes that despite the obstacles one may encounter, there is till signs of hope, there are still signs that can impress upon us the importance of keeping a positive outlook on life.

Polacco, in the end of the story, trumpets this message loud and clear. When he holds up his cat and sees that she is still alive, Mr. Roth proclaims the meaning of his pet's Hebrew name, that Tikvah Means Hope!

Elliot Fein teaches Jewish religious studies at the Tarbut V'Torah School in Irvine, California.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sukkot and natural disasters, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: TIKVAH MEANS HOPE (Picture Yearling Book) (Paperback)

As the review states, good stories for Succoth are rare. Patricia Polacco's story illustates how grateful the holiday of Sukkot reminds us to be for the shelter over our heads. Like Polacco in the Oakland firestorm, we were in our Sukkah when the SF Bay earthquake hit in 1989...another remindeer of how ephemeral our material world can be.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a wonderful book for children and adults!, September 2, 1999

By 

L. Sattler (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: TIKVAH MEANS HOPE (Picture Yearling Book) (Paperback)

When my children first read Tikvah Means Hope we needed to stop and crack open a box of tissues. Then we started talking about what in life is really important to us- which meant family before "things". Tikvah Means Hope is a wonderful family book and a treasure for any child to have and keep for future generations. It also is a testament the magnificent author, Patricia Polacco, who writes such timely themed books that touch children from all cultures and parts of the country. Our family loves her books and we hope that other Amazon readers will too!