Rivka's First Thanksgiving - Hardcover

Rael, Elsa Okon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689839014 ISBN 13: 9780689839016

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry, 2001

Synopsis

As recent Jewish immigrants from Russia, Rivka is having a hard time trying to explain the importance of Thanksgiving to her family and so turns to a group of Rabbis in the hopes that they will give their blessings and then change her father's mind.

About this title

About the Author

Elsa Okon Rael has written several children's books based on her own childhood experiences growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. What Zeesie Saw on Delancy Street, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman, was an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon, and a Hungry Mind Children's Book of Distinction. Its sequel, When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street, won the prestigious Sydney Taylor Book Award. Like the young heroine in Rivka's First Thanksgiving, Ms. Rael first learned about the holiday of Thanksgiving in public school -- and she, too, had to convince her immigrant parents to celebrate Thanksgiving at home.

Reviews

Gr 1-3-After learning about Thanksgiving at school, Rivka tries to persuade her Jewish immigrant family to observe this quintessential American holiday. But their resistance to participating in a "Gentile" celebration leads the nine-year-old to confront the family's rabbi with a letter pointing out the similarities between the Pilgrims and the Jews in escaping religious persecution. While the theme of an immigrant child trying to bridge the gap between her new life in America and the traditions of her family is one that endures, this book fails to convey the cultural importance of Thanksgiving, not to mention the vibrant life of Jewish immigrants on New York's Lower East Side in the 1910s. Based on a story passed down through the author's family, the text is wordy and presupposes too much knowledge about Jewish immigrants. The pencil-and-acrylic illustrations are cloyingly sweet and merely average in quality. On some pages, Rivka appears to be a much younger child, which contradicts her precocious challenge to the esteemed rabbi. An additional title at best.

Teri Markson, Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School, Los Angeles

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

After learning about Thanksgiving in school in the 1910s, nine-year-old Rivka succeeds in persuading her immigrant family and her rabbi that it is a holiday for all Americans even Jewish families. Rivka's case to her rabbi (and six of his peers) is impassioned, although some readers may have trouble believing that none of these learned men has heard of the holiday. Kovalski (Queen Nadine) is at her best with scenes of the Lower East Side's bustling streets, but her cartoonish illustrations often clash with Rael's (What Zeesie Saw on Delancy Street) moving message. Ages 5-9.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4-8. Rivka's immigrant Jewish family doesn't know anything about Thanksgiving. "Is it for Jews?" they ask. Grandmother takes Rivka to consult with the great Rabbi, and after he decides that Thanksgiving is not a celebration for Jews, she dares to write him a letter telling him he's wrong (immigrants came to America to escape from mean, wicked people who hurt them and their families") and persuades the Council of Rabbis that Jews also owe thanks. This isn't as touching as Rael's What Zeesie Saw on Delancey Street (1996), which was also set in the early 1900s in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Some of the colored-pencil-and-acrylic pictures are too exaggerated--the mother and grandmother are almost cartoons. But there is a strong sense of the warmth and energy in the crowded neighborhood, and the idea of the child teaching the wise elders will have broad appeal. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689839014
• ISBN 13: 9780689839016
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Kovalski Maryann
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32