Product Description

Stories about a clever man who lived by his wits as his pockets were always empty.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #232951 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Ten Yiddish folktales set in 19th-century Ukraine star a witty nomad, famous for sayings like "God must love poor people. Why else would He make so many of them?" Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9?Ten superbly retold Hershel of Ostropol tales, many of which are unavailable in popular collections. In "What Hershel's Father Did," Kimmel resurrects Hershel's reputation from that presented in Jacqueline D. Greene's What His Father Did (Houghton, 1992). "Money from a Table" and "The Candlesticks" are variations on a similar scheme: taking advantage of a miser's greed. "Potatoes!" is similar to Vicky Shiefman's Sunday Potatoes, Monday Potatoes (S.&S, 1994); but where that version is sweet, Kimmel's is ironic. The funniest tale by far is "The Miracle," a commentary on the misplaced values of a community that has money to pay for a burial, but not for keeping a starving family alive. "An Incredible Story" and "The Cow" play out the tricky relationships between the Jews of Eastern Europe and their Christian neighbors, both nobles and peasants alike. "The Cow" is similar to Isaac Bashevis Singer's story of the goat that didn't give milk. A black-and-white vignette adorns each selection. The book closes with more of Hershel's sayings, redolent with Yiddish humor.?Marcia W. Posner, Holocaust Memorial and Educational Center of Nassau County, Glen Cove, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 5^-9. "It's no disgrace to be poor, but it's no great honor either." Funny and humane, Kimmel's 10 Yiddish folktales about the trickster Hershel are rooted in the shtetl village community of the nineteenth-century Ukraine. Kimmel says that Hershel was a real character, a wandering beggar, who endeared himself to the common folk by making the pompous and arrogant look foolish. The joy and wit of these stories never denies the daily struggle with poverty and homelessness ("Times were bad. Hershel's family was starving" ). As in the Caldecott Honor Book Hershel and the Hannukah Goblins (1989), Hyman's wild, beautifully detailed drawings (in black-and-white above the title of each story, in riotous color on the jacket) capture Hershel's farcical interchange with the village creatures and characters, including the miser, the bandit, and the rabbi. With their wry idiom, these are stories for telling across generations. Kimmel points out that--like Coyote, Anansi, and B'rer Rabbit--this trickster belongs to all of us. Hazel Rochman

Customer Reviews

A lesson to learn from a tricky man
I read from this book often to my pre-schoolers. Yes, it takes effort to explain and question them until they understand the plot of each story. But they love them so much we repeat each tale many times, until at the end of the school year, they are telling Hershel stories to me!
The kid's favorites? The Gooses's Foot (because they relate to Hershel being a small boy) and The Candlesticks (because they like the part where Hershel says the candlesticks died.)
Though they are much younger than the recomended age for this book, I have found over the last few years that not a single 4 or five year old has not enjoyed these stories. And without the pictures in most children's books, they are forced to imagine what Hershel, Yente, Rabbi Iseral, and Uncle Zalman look like. We've had nothing but fun with this one!

Very funny!!
This book is very entertaining! It is about a poor person who finds clever ways to get his basic needs met. This book is a good read for young readers like me!!!

Great ironic tales told so well!
Funny, charming, what can I say? Really love these. My two little ones get a kick out of these. The description from SLJ doesn't do it justice. These are GREAT, hard to find anything that can compare.