What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street [Hardcover]

Elsa Okon Rael (Author), Marjorie Priceman (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996

package party,"" a feast where funds are raised for immigrants in the Jewish community, and quickly learns a valuable lesson in sharing after sneaking into a special room and witnessing something extraordinary.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rael's (Marushka's Egg) memories of childhood in a tenement on Manhattan's Lower East Side inspire this atmospheric picture book. As a treat for her seventh birthday, Zeesie is permitted to attend a "package party" with her parents and receives her very own dollar bill. She excitedly dresses up and scurries past the tailor shop, the chicken yard and "probably the biggest movie theater in the whole world" to reach the party's music-filled ballroom. Yiddish songs and dancing serve as background for a fund-raising auction where families bid on packages of tasty treats. In the middle of this festive whirl, Zeesie sneaks into the "money room," becoming privy to a very well kept adult secret. While Rael's account of this vibrant social scene is evocative of the 1930s, her bountiful text nearly overwhelms readers with detail, from the names of Yiddish songs to special foods. Likewise, the ambitious money-room plot line slows the pacing. Priceman's (Zin, Zin, Zin! A Violin; How to Make an Apple Pie, see p. 85) mannered gouaches capture the invigorating energy of a bustling, crowded neighborhood, and her scenes of couples twirling on the dance floor and families at table possess a simple elegance. Both art and text celebrate the secure feelings of a close-knit community. Endnotes include a glossary of terms as well as an explanation of the package party concept. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-9. Many picture books about early immigrant communities don't get beyond ethnic celebration, but here there's a real story, and it grows right out of the culture. The setting is a Jewish American community on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the early 1900s. On her seventh birthday, Zeesie is excited to attend her first "package party" with her parents; it's a fund-raising party where families and friends who emigrated from the same village abroad get together and organize to bring new immigrants to America. Priceman's gouache illustrations in folk art^-style are packed with movement, character, and color, expressing Zeesie's delight in the foods and people and exuberant partying. But then there's a quiet moment, a secret. There's a room at the party where the adults go in, always one at a time. Zeesie's not supposed to enter the room, but when she does, she discovers sorrow and also community. It's the combination of the exuberant fellowship with the secret of individual need that makes a great story. Yiddish words, explained in the glossary, add warmth and joyful detail, and the endpapers include two delicious recipes. Hazel Rochman

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689805497
• ISBN-13: 978-0689805493
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #566,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely outstanding, November 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street (Hardcover)

This would be a fine book even if it were only a well-executed example of those "learn about a culture" books. But it is much more. The book teaches -- without the heavy-handed EXPLANATIONS that so often destroy the flow and writing and make the whole thing seem so artificial -- about Jewish values and the complexities of social responsibility, justice and dignity, without ever TELLING them to the reader. The author lets the story speak for itself, and the message comes through all the more clearly, not less, for her forbearance. Just terrific. Worth the price for the kids on your list (and I don't think it's only appropriate for under-eights).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, June 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street (Hardcover)

This is an oustanding book for children. My daughter received it as a gift, and it is one of those rare books that adults feel delivers a powerful message, but children love anyway! The book gives an interesting look at an immigrant Jewish community without ever being pedagogical, and, even better, teaches a wonderful philosophy of social justice and "charity" without being in the least preachy and (even rarer) without stating in words the point the story has just made. You will love this one