The children's book, Snow, by Uri Shulevitz is about a young boy who anticipates snow with only seeing just one snowflake. His grandfather and other people around town do not pay much attention to his words and just brush him off. More snowflakes begin to fall and make the town white. Finally, there is snow. This book is very bluntly written. There are no proper names, no possessives, and no descriptions. With the exception of the pictures, Snow is quite bland. The minimal title of Snow does somewhat suggest the simplicity of the story in the book. Perhaps Shulevitz's whole purpose of writing the book is to show the purity and incomplexity of snow itself. The sentences within the book are not long or complex in any way. Most of them consist of a simple subject and a simple predicate and four to six small words. For example, the first page says, "The skies are gray. The rooftops are gray. The whole city is gray." The next sentence is three words but is not really an actual sentence. However, the sentences do begin to grow in length and number of words as more snow begins to fall through out the story. During the climax of the book when the snow really begins to fall hard, there is a sentence with many words that runs for four pages. Another way in which the narration is very dull is that there are not any descriptions. The story does not say anything like, "the short boy with brown hair" or "the fat man carrying the briefcase." The boy, who is the main character of the story is just called "boy with dog" through out the entire book until the last page when he is "the boy." Also, the boy comes into contact with three nameless people: "grandfather with beard," "man with hat," and "woman with umbrella." Although none of the characters have names, they still fit into the story as well as the boy. Another item that is missing from the narration is the article "the." The boy or the people he meets would not sound so uninteresting if they were called "the woman" or "the man." Overall, this is a good story to read. If not for the excitement that many children have over seeing snow, Shulevitz would not have been able to be so basic with his telling of the story. However, the two parts of the story-the stirring idea of snow and the unexciting storyline fit perfectly to make the book balance.

This is such a lovely book. Simple text that easily portrays the joy of the season. I initially chose the book for it's stylish illustrations, but have found it has much more to offer. It's a favorite even on a sunny day!

The illustrations in this book capture the mood of snow. The gray sky gives way to more and more and more white snowflakes culminating in a snow covered world. The artwork's gradual buildup of the storm truly evokes the soft, silent feel of snow.

Try this : buy this book and read a tale before you go to bed at night. You probably won't be able to stop at just one! Schwartz has put together a great collection of supernatural tales, both long and short, that throw a fascinating light on Jewish folk culture. The general reader will appreciate the writing style, while folklore specialists will be glad he has included notes and references (in the back, thank you!) Fascinating elements to this goyisch reader : the magical power of simply studying the Torah and the frequent resort to a rabbinic court as a form of protection against and release from demons and spells.

This is an excellent book of supernatural Jewish folktales. It's very well written. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in Judaism, mythology, storytelling or the occult.

This is a reference for every eerie and nasty folktale in Jewish culture. From Maimonides and the Homonculus to tales of the angel of death this book can only be compared to the Grimm Brothers at their most evil.

It is so sad that Sarah MacLachlin and neo-pagan feminists have tried to make Lilith into some Gloria Steinem type of symbol. Her destructive and glorious power is something that should never be defanged, and the Lilith stories in this volume prove it.

The story is great, if a little predictable. The young fool sets off to find a flying ship and thereby win the princess. A magical old man helps him find the ship, then the fool picks up a bunch of people on the way to the czar's palace, all of whom have these weird special talents. Once at the palace, the czar doesn't want to hand over his daughter and sets before the fool a number of tasks, which amusingly, but somewhat predictably line up with the special skills of each of the people he picked up along the way.

The illustrations leave a lot to be desired. Although they are fun, detailed and colorful, they miss many chances to illustrate the story more dramatically. This is surprising given that the illustrator claims in his bio to be a filmmaker in addition to a children's book author. His illustrations need some close-ups and more interesting angles!

Still, I would recommend this book, it is a wonderful example of a Russian folk tale. In the hands of another author and illustrator, it could be even better!

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship by Arthur Ransome with illustrations by Uri Shulevitz is easily my favorite picture book. Everything is perfect about the book. First of all the pictures are marvelous. All of Shulevitz's books have good pictures, but this might be his best. The pictures jump off the page with their color and with the humor portrayed in them. The story is, of course, the best part of the book. The story is hilarious with marvelously interesting characters. It also has some good morals like "God loves simple folk." I work in a library, and adults and kids all love this book. I have also seen the book performed for children, and it proved to be excellent for reading aloud. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship is an amazing picture book and deseves is Caldecott Medal and its classic status.

The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship won the Caldecott Medal in 1969 as the best illustrated American children's book in that year. The illustrations feature bright colors, subtle shadings, and stylistically interesting pen highlights to suggest outlines and details. The illustrations take you enjoyably into a magical world for a fascinating journey, and greatly add to the pleasure of this traditional Russian tale. The story is build around the theme of: "You see how God loves simple folk."

A family has three sons, two who are clever and one who is foolish. "He was as simple as a child, simpler than some children, and he never did anyone a harm in his life." The parents were proud of their clever sons and disappointed in their foolish one. When the news comes that the Czar wants a flying ship, the parents support the efforts of the two clever sons. They set off and are never heard from again. When the foolish son sets off, he gets the the minimum of support and encouragement.

He soon runs into "an ancient old man with a bent back, and a long beard, and eyes hidden under his bushy eyebrows." The foolish son offers to share his meager food, apologizing to the ancient man. But when he opens his bag, marvelous food appears instead. The ancient man has magical powers and teaches the foolish son how to make a flying ship for the Czar. The ancient man also advises the foolish son to take along everyone he meets on his trip to the Czar's palace to deliver the flying ship.

Along the way, the foolish son meets a most unusual set of people with great individualized talents. As you read the book, you will be wondering what their significance could possibly be. They turn out to be a sort of 19th century X-Men.

The promised reward for bringing the flying ship had been the hand of the Czar's daughter in marriage and a rich dowry. When the foolish son arrives, the Czar's men report that those in the ship are only a bunch of uncouth peasants. As a result, the Czar doesn't want to make good on his promise, so he sets up extreme challenges (not unlike the Wizard of Oz). Using the remarkable talents of his passengers, all of the tests are met by the foolish son.

The foolish son is married to the Czar's daughter, and they live happily ever after. The foolish son then "became so clever that all the court repeated everything he said."

As you can see, the story is also a satire on the people who think they are clever or know how to identify cleverness. They often outsmart themselves. The Czar wanted a flying ship, but would have been much better off making good use of the talents of the peasants who were already part of his kingdom. Also, we are never told what use he made of the flying ship. It appears that he gave his daughter away for a whim. The winning man might as easily have been a terrible person. The courtiers also thought that anyone who was powerful was clever. I laughed aloud several times while reading the story.

Unlike most children's stories for this age group (4-8), this book has a richness of plot, character development, and humor that makes it more like a novel.

After you have finished enjoying the story with your child, I suggest that the two of you have some fun talking about places where "clever" people act foolishly and vice versa. You can help your child see the bright side of much of the nonsense that goes on around us.

Be foolish in providing and seeking out help, and a great bounty of friendship will be yours!

Like all of Howard Schwartz's books that I know, this is a collection of fairy tales with a Jewish or biblical theme. The stories in this collection are fun to read, geared for kids 9-12, but appropriate for younger ones too. One of the things I liked about these stories was that when reading them to a younger child, I enjoyed them too. So many books for kids are crashing bores for an adult reader. This one definitely isn't!

I bought this book for my children hoping to enoble their hearts with the wisdom that one may have to travel far to value what he already has near. The book started out ok but I found the ending terribly disappointing, as if a literal treasure is the cure-all for one's poverty and troubles. I had to read this book a least a dozen times to see if I was missing something. I just can't figure out why anyone would like it. Please enlighten me.

This short children's story is about an elderly man who is told in a dream to travel a long distance to a city to find a treasure. He finds it in an unexpected place; not where he expected. A book that children will enjoy for a long time. The book was a 1980 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

On the topic of unexpected blessings, I happened on this little gem of a find several years ago, and have treasured it as one of my all-time favorite picture books ever since. Breathtaking, rich watercolor illustrations in soft, earthy hues lend a dreamy feeling to the text, which can be appreciated equally as well (if not better) by adults as children. I like to read into it the gentle reminder that sometimes the greatest treasures (happiness, fulfillment, love) can be found where we least expect them, and may not be so far away as we are wont to imagine.