The Flying Latke (Hardcover)

by Arthur Yorinks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Hungry from the lack of appetizers (Mother doesn't believe in them) one Chanukah, Uncle Izzy and Uncle Shecky start arguing over what kind of car cut them off recently, a Buick or a Ford. Shecky shakes a pickle so hard it bounces off Izzy's forehead, and the food fight is on. Borscht, chicken, sour cream, even the chocolate Chanukah gelt--nothing is sacred. But when one last latke soars out the window, it just keeps flying! Soon news reporters and FBI agents are swarming the house, seeking the source of the mysterious UFO. The family is stranded in the house, with almost no food, until everything blows over.

In Arthur Yorinks's fantastically wacky version of the traditional Chanukah story, the remaining plate of latkes, which, in that crowd, should have lasted "about seven and a half minutes," lasts for eight days! An all-star (or mostly-star) cast of actors and illustrators were "cast" for this unusual book, staged and photographed by Yorinks and Paul Colin. Newbery- and Caldecott-award winning illustrator William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble) provided the background art, as Yorinks and Colin digitally transferred photos of the posed actors into the illustrations. This hilarious take on the Jewish holiday, while wildly offbeat, remains true to the spirit of the Chanukah miracle; ultimately, the fighting stops and forgiveness reigns. (Ages 4 to 10) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
If the Three Stooges had played the sons of Yiddish-speaking immigrants,they might have stepped into this slick shtick. The plot features feuding relatives who start a food fight on Hanukkah and pitch a latke out the window; the latke (don't ask) is mistaken for a UFO. Characters "plotz" and "fress" and "shmooze"Aeverything but play canasta. Steig's work is far in the backgroundAliterally. Using digital techniques, Yorinks (Hey, Al) with Colin treats Steig's drawings as a theater set and collages in photos of "actors" hamming it up (you should pardon the expression). With "parts" dealt out to Steig and his wife, artists Maurice Sendak and Vladimir Radunsky as well as children's publishing folk David Saylor and Judith Rovenger, the book has the tone of an in-joke, with an equally limited appeal. Ages 5-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing; 1st edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689825978
• ISBN-13: 978-0689825972
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,057,528 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #13 in	Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( Y ) > Yorinks, Arthur
  #29 in	Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Festivals > Jewish > Fiction
  #29 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Children's Books > Holidays & Festivals

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Secret in-jokes in the book explained, November 6, 1999

By A Customer

Pssssst.... while many of the characters in the book look like photos of stock characters, upon closer look you may notice that some of the roles are played by the children's book publisher David Saylor; famed artists Maurice Sendak and Vladimir Radunsky; the illustrator William Steig; and the publisher Judith Rovenger.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wacky and warm and funny and quite unique, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

A Hanukkah book by not one, but two, count them two, Caldecott Medal winners. Steig has been illustrating The New Yorker magazine for what? something like over 60 years! And Yorink is famous for "Hey Al" and that story about Whitefish. This is quite a unique Hanukkah book that combines pictures of real people (better than stock characters) and illustrations, and text and cartoon bubbles, to show what Hanukkah is really like in a large extended family.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Blooper mars otherwise charming story, July 16, 2000

By	Eileen Galen (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A Jewish holiday, a funny and fanciful Jewish story make this book in many ways utterly charming. Even nominally traditional Jewish dietary laws are ignored, however, when the author serves the story's assembled family latkes, sour cream, and chicken (among other things) for dinner. An unfortunate error in judgment, in this reader's view.