Thirteen brief, illustrated, traditional Jewish tales, each accompanied by an appropriate saying.

Very short stories with lots of colorful illustrations and Yiddish terms with English translations in parentheses. Each one or two page story is followed by a related saying.

The stories are:
The Sign - what is superfluous in a sign that says "Fresh Fish Sold Here Daily"?
A Made-to-Order Suit - the saying at the end is "A suit of clothing is as good as the tailor."
Chicken Soup - if you have one sick and one healthy chicken, what do you do?
A Philosophical Dispute - does bread ever not fall buttered side down?
The Umbrella
An Important Question - what is life?
A Shlemiel and a Shlimazel - the difference is explained with a bowl of soup
Two Brothers - God's answer to the apparent unfairness of the world
A Case of Mistaken Identity - A man so changed that even his name has changed
The Caretaker - The shames becomes successful when he is fired because he is illiterate
The Restaurant - the customer asks the waiter to taste the soup
If I Were Rockefeller - The poor teacher explains why he would be richer than Rockefeller if he were rich like him
The Rabbi Is So Smart or How Chelm Got Bigger - the Rabbi explains why the moon is more important than the sun, how to have enough she-goats, what to do when it's cold outside, and how pushing the mountain next to Chelm should give the townsfolk more room. ( )

Very funny and entertaining book. Phrases that I use all the time turn out to be another language.
It is cool that English has become the melting pot for taking on the sayings of other languages.
Great stories with a way for kids to relate to them. ( )

SUMMARY: A collection of thirteen traditional Jewish tales, all accompanied by an appropriate saying.

REVIEW: Since my mom's side of the family is Jewish, I have a particular fondness for this book. I was not raised specifically in the Jewish culture, but I have heard many of the words and stories recounted in this book during family gatherings over the years. This book is a fun, entertaining collection of traditional Jewish stories that children will definitely enjoy reading about. Of course, these stories contain some of the Jewish words that are both useful AND fun to say, such as "farblondjet," meaning "confused." This book is a wonderful introduction to Jewish culture for young children. ( )

Difficult to understand because of the wording used throughout the tale. ( )