When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw: and Other Stories

By Isaac Bashevis Singer

Book Overview

Eight stories based on traditional Jewish themes from Eastern Europe include: Shrewd Todie & Lyzer the Miser; Tsirtsur & Peziza; Rabbi Leib & the Witch Cunegunde; The Elders of Chelm & Genendel's Key; Shlemiel, the Businessman; Utzel & His Daughter Poverty; Menaseh's Dream; When Shlemiel went to War

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374483655
• ISBN13: 9780374483654
• Release Date: September 1986
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 0.3" x 5.1"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Poverty grew rich

"In our time, when literature is losing its address and the telling of stories is becoming a forgotten art, children are the best readers," Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote in the three paragraph preface to this 1968 volume. No question, children make fine listeners as well, particularly to these eight stories, which include several Singer originals, as well as some he heard from his mother, who heard them from her mother and grandmother.Whatever...

Candlelight magic

Isaac Bashevis Singer provides an intoxicating brew whether it is for adults or for children. When my kids wonder why I might spend so much time unravelling print, I can reach for this book and share with them some of the delights of the realms of the imagination. Books such as this remind us that there is little that television can add to our lives and it really won't matter how good the computer graphics get because Singer...

When I was a child...

there were things I was supposed to know. That the sky is blue, that my family loved me, and that reading would expand my world. I was sickly, so I read. I read a lot. I read about the little girl who lived with her grandfather and tended goats. I read about the hobbit who found a ring. I read about the land of OZ. And I also read stories like the ones a grandfather would tell. I didn't have a living grandfather. ...

A wonderfully witty and well-written book

This book is dazzling, regardless of whether you like Jewish stories or not. The stories appear to be entirely artless yet they are carefully and brilliantly crafted. My son, who is eight, was as enchanted by them as I was. Highly recommended.

This is one of the best books I've ever read!

This is a great book to read if you like reading Jewish stories. It was an easy book to read , except for some of the yiddish words which I did not always understand. I would recommend this book to anyone.