The Boy Who Stuck Out His Tongue: A Yiddish Folk Tale (Hardcover)

~ Edith Tarbescu (Author), Judith Christine Mills (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-This retelling falls short of the mark with flat language and ill-fitting illustrations. In a Hungarian village, a young boy refuses to come in and light the stove for his mother, and sticks out his tongue. He falls down and his tongue sticks to an icy iron fence. A variety of bewildered townspeople try to help to no avail. "The woman looked from one to the other. Maybe it was true what people said; maybe this town was full of fools." Ultimately, the boy is freed, but not before he repents and changes his attitude. The story is slight, and the message is heavy-handed. Tarbescu's language is overly modern and entirely uninspired. "Promise, schmomise, I'm too busy." The acrylic illustrations are awkward at times; the boy is overly cute and the villagers are all pink-cheeked. While their simple, warm clothing is appropriate and the decorative carpetlike borders add interest, no amount of clever workmanship can make up for the lackluster text with its overstated moral. Stick with the wealth of Jewish folktales retold by authors such as Eric Kimmel and Isaac Singer.
Amy Lilien-Harper, Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Set in a small Hungarian village, this is a lively Jewish folktale in the tradition of the fools of Chelm. "Promise, Schmomise, I'm too busy," the widow's son says when his mother asks him to light the fire. She chases him, he sticks out his tongue at her, and when he falls in the snow, his tongue sticks to the iron fence. All the villagers, including the shoemaker (who thinks he knows about tongues), the butcher, the baker, and the carpenter, try to free the boy, but it's a traveling blacksmith who finally works out the solution: he starts a fire to warm the iron and set the boy free. The ending is a little flat--the boy learns to be helpful next time--and lacks the wry humor of Singer's retellings. The fun is in the quarrel, the trap, and the silly bumbling of the villagers. Tarbescu tells it with verve, and Mills' big, colorful acrylic pictures in folk-art style show the slapstick action and the warmth of the schlemiels who mean well. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Barefoot Books (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841480673
• ISBN-13: 978-1841480671
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #349,876 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A laugh-aloud story, February 17, 2004

By A Customer

I thought I was the only person whose tongue got suck to a frozen popsicle. I read "The Boy Who Stuck Out His Tongue" and laughed aloud at the funny predicament. I also read it to my younger sister and she found it amusing, too. I hope Ms. Tarbescu writes more funny bks. I also loved "Bring Back My Gebil," and read that to my sister, too. If you want to laugh, order this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sugar and medicine, September 12, 2001

By A Customer

This is yet another tale told in this writer's delightful style. I highly recommend this and all of her books. The reviewer from the American Library Association seems disappointed that the boy learns his lesson. Come on now!!! Helping adults and children learn from our mistakes is why folktales and fables have lasted for centuries. A lot of new stories do well to last a decade. This rendition should be around for quite some time. She gives the ending just the right touch in my opinion. I work in the public schools and I'm greatly concerned about the need to help children to learn civilized behavior. Children can learn from it but there is nothing preachy about it at all. It's like a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging and entertaining story, June 9, 2001

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

In The Boy Who Stuck Out His Tongue, Edith Tarbescu retells an old Yiddish folk tale about the son of a widow. When his mother asks him to light the fire He just sticks his tongue out at here. he would rather make snowballs than help with chores. But then sticking his tongue out gets him into a problematic situation. When this happens, all the folk of his little Hungarian village rally to his aid -- and our young man learns an invaluable lesson. Judith Mills' colorful artwork is a perfect enhancement to Edith Tarbescu's engaging and entertaining story that will have young readers gleefully turning the pages, one after another!