Even Higher! A Rosh Hashanah Story - Hardcover

I. L. Peretz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0823420205 ISBN 13: 9780823420209

Publisher: Holiday House, 2009

Synopsis

Every year, just before Rosh Hashanah, the rabbi of Nemirov disappears. The villagers are certain their rabbi flies up to heaven to speak with God before the fate of every soul is decided for the coming year. But a skeptical Litvak scoffs at the villagers, claiming miracles cannot happen, and secretly follows the rabbi early one morning. What he witnesses--an enormous act of human compassion--changes his heart. Readers will be taken to a higher place in this celebration of the power of miracles.

About this title

About the Author:

Eric A. Kimmel is a celebrated children's author and master storyteller who has won the Sydney Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award. His work has been honored with the National Jewish Book Award as well as the Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award. His Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, was a Caldecott Honor Book.

Jill Weber is a children's book illustrator and designer. Kirkus Reviews raved that the "childlike feel" of her gouache illustrations for Ann Purmell's Maple Syrup Season "suits the family-centered text perfectly." She lives in New Hampshire.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2–5—Each year, the revered rabbi of an Eastern European village disappears for a few days before the Jewish New Year. The townsfolk speculate that he spends the time in heaven, personally asking God to forgive the villagers' sins. When a skeptical stranger follows the rabbi, he finds him performing a deed whose worth is "even higher": the rabbi chops wood to provide for a poor, elderly, sickly woman. Kimmel's adaptation is fairly traditional, but he has added a few elements that seem a bit at odds with the story, including a Ukrainian drinking song and a miraculous cure. The story is rooted firmly in the shtetl setting and is best appreciated by readers with some prior knowledge of this culture. Despite the cheerful cartoon illustrations, this is not the most child-friendly retelling. For a version more appealing to children, try Richard Ungar's Even Higher (Tundra, 2007), which features a curious boy instead of a doubting adult.—Heidi Estrin, Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL END

About this edition

• Publisher: Holiday House
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0823420205
• ISBN 13: 9780823420209
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Weber Jill