Based on a tale attributed to the 18th-century Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, this luminously rendered story centers on a tailor named Haskel who lives in Tzafat (one of the four holy cities of Israel, long associated with Jewish mysticism). One night Haskel dreams that the moon comes to him, wishing for a cloak to keep herself warm, and Haskel vows to make her one. When he wakes up, he says, "Dream or not, I will keep my promise." Although his uncle, a master tailor, tells him to "stop chasing dreams," Haskel dedicates himself to his goal, and when he hears of a legendary garment that stretches or shrinks to fit the wearer, he sets out to find it, in a journey that takes him first to China and then across the desert to a city evocatively named The Roof of the World. Expertly pacing the story, Kimmel (previously paired with Krenina for The Magic Dreidels) embroiders his prose with graceful details, writing of "radiant satins [and] silks like colored water." The exotic trappings will lure readers, replacing Haskel's determination to keep his promise as the central theme of the work. Intermittently embellished by borders and spot art featuring delicate flower motifs, Krenina's gouache art effectively depicts the Middle and Far Eastern settings of the tale, as well as its timeless sensibility. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
K-Gr 4-According to an author's note, this story is based on the work of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav, a Jewish spiritual leader who died in 1811. Haskel, a tailor, spends his days sewing clothes and his nights lying on the roof watching the moon. In a dream, the moon tells him that she is cold and needs a cloak. Determined to make her a spectacular garment, he sets off to seek a special fabric that will stretch and shrink as the moon waxes and wanes. He travels to China, where he hears a rumor that leads him to a city located high in the mountains. When he arrives there, he learns that their princess cannot marry because the royal wedding dress, woven from beams of light, needs repairing and the secret of spinning light into thread has been lost. When he looks at the fabric through his magnifying glass, the moonlight focuses through it and spins itself into thread. The tailor mends the dress and takes a thread from it as a reward. From it, he makes the cloak and he and the moon now shine together in the sky. This unique, beautifully written story is enhanced by vividly colored, luminous gouache paintings of equal quality.-Anne Parker, Milton Public Library, MA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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